Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-07-26
QUAKE
Continued From Pare All

there was no direct commercial
communication with the strick-
en- city 40 miles southeast Of
Belgrade. The only link. was
BY radio. Just before noon an
emergency telephone line was
opened between Skopje and
Pristina.
Classrooms at schools in the
nearby towns Of Pristina, Uro-
sevac and Kosovaska Mitrovica
were turned into emergency
hospital. wards to receive the
injured from Skopje. Thirty
doctors with several ambulances
were rushed from Pristina.
Fire brigades from nearby
towns near the Macedonian
capital raced to the quake
scene. The Belgrade radio had
said fires broke out in q tech
nical school and q boys high
school.
Blood donors all over the
country were called upon to
report to blood banks immedi-
ately. Their blood was to be
flown to Skopje.
Skopje parks were turned into
collection points for the home
less and all citizens were
ordered to stay out Of their
homes for the next "a hours as
q safety measure.
Tanjug reported that the
earthquakes center lay right
in the heart Of Skopje. The
downtown section was hardest
hit.
The entire province of Ma
cedonia, southeast Of Belgrade,
was modified for relief work.
Roads leading to the stricken
city were damned with trucks
bringing in supplies and man
power and then turning around
to evacuate the injured.
Nearby Towns Aid
The town Of Ms, northeast
of Skopje, made space for
] 900 beds for the injured.
Medical teams were sped from
Mis-. Zagreb, Sarajevo, Ljubl-
jana and Mostar as well as
from Belgrade. Special road
clearing teams. with heavy
equipment such as bulldozers,
were sent from Ms.
Yugoslay Premier Petar
Stambolic flew to Skopje early
today together with Finance
Minister Kiro Gligorov and
Gen. Gojko Nikolic, head Of
the Yugoslav army's medical
department.
The first shock, described as
extremely violent, repeatedly hit
at SIT am. (12:l7 am. EDIT |
while most Of the inhabitants
were asleep. Other shocks were
felt is or 20 minutes later.
Then about five hours later, as
relief workers swarmed through
the stricken city. two more
minor quakes hit, Tanjug
reported.
The first refugee to reach
Belgrade was Alexander Bla-
gojovic. q pilot for the Yugoslav
Air Transport Co. He told radio
Belgrade that he was dressing
in his room at the Hotel In
valid, opposite the railroad
station, when the quake struck.
at saw the railroad station
go down In front Of my eyes,"
he said. 1T was q terrible sight.
There was O tremendous jolt
and I told my roommate not to
move. I thought that was the
best thing to do.
"a woman nearby shouted
for help. It was a foreign
woman tourist whose husband
succeeded in escaping to the
street. She remained in her
room since the bent door pre-
vented her from going out, too.
We helped her out.
II am afraid there must
be a lot Of children victims
Of the quake since they could
not get out to the street as
quickly as the grownups.
Prom the air we saw several
fires in the city but did not see
that the river harbor over
flowed its banks or that the
nearby Matka hydropower
station was damaged"
Damage Less Elsewhere
According TO first reports,
II appeared that the quake
was felt In many other parts
Of Macedonia, but damage out
side Skopje was less. At Gnji-
lane, "a houses we're damaged
and several persons injured.
The Quake followed a week