Survivors decribe shock awakening

Two survivors from the Islamabad apartment collapse await rescue.

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(CNN) -- People in south and central Asia were jolted out of their beds early Saturday by a major earthquake that rocked at least three countries.

"I was tossed up in my bed and the ceiling fan struck against the roof, " Nauman Ali, who lives in a top floor apartment in Islamabad, Pakistan, told The Associated Press.

"It was like hell."

The 7.6 magnitude quake struck at 0350 GMT and was centered about 60 miles northeast of Islamabad. It also caused widespread damage in parts of Afghanistan and India. (Full story)

A 10-story apartment building in Islamabad was leveled. Rescuers pulled out at least 20 injured people and dozens more were feared trapped in the rubble, the AP reported.

Qaiser Abbas, a receptionist in the building, told the AP he was sitting in his office when the building suddenly began to shake.

"After five seconds, I heard big sound, and then about 40 apartments collapsed," he said

A man named Rehmatullah who lived nearby said he saw dust from the buckled building from his bathroom window.

"I rushed down, and for some time you could not see anything because of the dust," he told the AP. "Then we began to look for people in the rubble."

He recounted for the AP one particularly gruesome rescue: "We pulled out one man by cutting off his legs."

Aided by two large cranes, hundreds of police and soldiers helped remove chunks of concrete, one of which was splattered with blood.

One rescue worker said he heard faint cries from people trapped in the rubble.

In Abbotabad, north of Islamabad, dozens of quake victims and other patients, some hooked up to intravenous drips, lay on the lawn of the city hospital after officials said aftershocks made it unsafe to stay inside.

Hospital staff used loudspeakers to ask the public for food and other relief supplies. One of the injured was 8-year-old Qadeer, whose father, a farmer named Jehangir, said the only buildings left standing in their village were a mosque and a school.

Qadeer lay unconscious, his right leg heavily bandaged. Sultan said the worst-hit areas were in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, and the towns of Bagh and Rawalakot.

The districts of Batagram, Balakot, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Patan in northwestern Pakistan also suffered serious damage, he said.