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Pakistan To Rebuild Ruined City Elsewhere

The Pakistani city of Balakot, destroyed in last year`s horrific Kashmir earthquake, will be rebuilt in a different location. This is according to officials in the capital of Islamabad. Pakistan also announced that it will halt relief efforts to the area, so that the rebuilding of devastated towns and villages can begin on April 7.

According to one Florida-based news agency, the city Balakot had a population of roughly 300,000 people before the quake. The new location of the city is said to be safer and will allow more modern design standards, since the former location was on top of a major fault line.

More than 73,000 people died and three million lost homes in the earthquake. Pakistan`s Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad tells a high-level meeting in Rawalpindi that despite reports (from news agencies like All Headline News), there is no definite site in mind for the new city of Balakot.