Shopkeeper's family death toll rises to 17 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Shopkeeper's family death toll rises to 17

Azim KhanASIAN EARTHQUAKE DISASTER: A SWINDON shopkeeper has now lost 17 members of his family in the earthquake.

Azim Khan thought eight children in his family had died but after speaking to his sister in Battal, Pakistan, he has now heard that nine more relatives have died. Fourteen of the 17 are children. Seven of them have not yet been dug out of the collapsed buildings.

And Mr Khan, pictured, who owns Khan's Convenience Store in Rodbourne Road, said no aid is getting through to the area.

"They said there is no help at all," he said. "They have to go 30 miles to get food."

Mr Khan moved from Battal to Swindon in 1967.

As reported in yesterday's Adver, he was devastated when he turned on the television to see his home town had been destroyed.

He then received the call he had been dreading.

Mr Khan had recently been on holiday to his birthplace and said it was impossible to reconcile the images in the media with the place he saw.