NGO to send counsellors to help Acheh Earthquake victims

Pertubuhan Himpunan Lepasan Institusi Pendidikan Malaysia (Haluan) will be sending their second team comprising counsellors and social activists to help locals in Acheh after the 6.5 magnitude quake earthquake hit the town last Wednesday.

One of the activist, Abd Halim Khudri, 59, who just returned from Pidie Jaya, Acheh, the township that was hit the worst by the earthquake said the people there are traumatized as till now the aftershocks continue to occur.

"They need counsellors to help them calm down from their shock as their houses and surroundings had been destroyed," he said when met at the Penang International Airport here, Sunday.

The second team headed by Dr Baharudin Suri will be flying to Acheh on Tuesday and taking with them medical supplies and cash aid for the locals in Acheh, he said.

Abd Halim who had participated in more than six humanitarian missions worldwide including the 2004 Acheh Tsunami also called upon young volunteers to participate in the mission to help those in need.

"We need doctors and engineers to help the people there. The people have not only lost their family members but also their homes and their source of income," Abd Halim said.

Reports said more than 100 people had been confirmed dead, more than 700 injured and thousands left homeless.

Rescuers had been deployed to the scene and the search and rescue mission is still going on.

The Indonesian government had declared a two-week state of emergency and the spokesman for the national disaster management believes they had found 99 percent of the victims from the wake. - Bernama