Pakistani quake victim found, family's hope dashed

GUL MERAH, Pakistan, Oct 2 (Reuters) Nearly a year after a devastating earthquake struck Pakistan, the body of a man has been found in rubble, snuffing out his family's lingering hopes that he had survived.

Painter Fazlur-Rehman was out on a job when the earthquake struck on October 8, 2005, killing more than 73,000 people.

His body was found in rubble on Friday during reconstruction work in the town of Balakot in North West Frontier Province. He was buried in his home village of Gul Merah on Saturday.

''We always thought he had escaped in Balakot and would come home some day,'' said Rehman's daughter Sonia, sitting next to her sobbing mother. ''We searched everywhere. We put his photographs in police stations and in markets.'' Rehman, 42, was found with a faded identity card in his pocket.

Villagers brought the body back up to his mountain home and his wife and daughters recognised his battered shoes.

Reconstruction work across Pakistan's northern mountains is only just getting started. Many bodies are believed to be still under the rubble or entombed in landslides.

Reuters SHB DB0845