Rescuers race to reach earthquake-hit mountainous villages in search of survivors
\n Kabul
\nThe death toll in the earthquake in Afghanistan, the worst in the region in years, has surged to 1,411, the Taliban administration\u2019s spokesperson said on Tuesday. At least 3,251 people have been injured and more than 8,000 houses have been destroyed in the disaster, the group said.
\nRescuers will try to reach isolated villages in the eastern region of Kunar, the epicentre of an earthquake, one of the deadliest seismic activity nation has witnessed.
\nRescue operations were carried out in four villages in Kunar after the quake struck and efforts will now be focused on reaching more remote mountain areas, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the provincial head of disaster management. \u201cWe cannot accurately predict how many bodies might still be trapped under the rubble,\u201d said Ehsan. \u201cOur effort is to complete these operations as soon as possible and to begin distributing aid to the affected families.\u201d
\nOne of Afghanistan\u2019s worst earthquakes, with a magnitude of 6, struck around midnight local time on Monday, at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), killing 812 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar.
\nMountainous terrain and inclement weather have hindered rescuers reaching remote areas along the Pakistani border where the quake flattened mudbrick homes. Gaining access for vehicles on the narrow mountain roads was the main obstacle for relief work, said Ehsan, adding machinery was being brought in to clear roads of debris.
\nA line of ambulances was on the damaged mountain road trying to reach Kunar villages, as helicopters flew in, bringing aid supplies and taking the injured to hospitals, according to a Reuters witness.
\nSome of those injured have been transferred to hospitals in Kabul and the adjacent province of Nangarhar, said Ehsan.
\nTaliban soldiers were deployed in the area, providing help and security. The disaster has further stretched the war-torn nation\u2019s Taliban administration, already grappling with a sharp drop in foreign aid and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighbouring countries.
\n\u201cNational and international organisations are present in the area, have organised their assistance, and, God willing, aid will be distributed in an orderly manner,\u201d said Ehsan. Rescue teams and authorities are trying to dispose of animal carcasses quickly so as to minimise the risk of contamination to water resources, a UN official said on Monday.
\n\u201cDamaged roads, ongoing aftershocks, and remote locations of many villages severely impede the delivery of aid,\u201d the World Health Organisation said in a situation update, adding that over 12,000 people had been affected by the quake.
\n\u201cThe pre-earthquake fragility of the health system means local capacity is overwhelmed, creating total dependence on external actors,\u201d said the update.
\nAfghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
\nA 6.1-magnitude earthquake that killed 1,000 people in the eastern region in 2022 was the first major natural disaster faced by the Taliban government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rescuers race to reach earthquake-hit mountainous villages in search of survivors Kabul The death toll in the earthquake in Afghanistan, the worst in the region in years, has surged to 1,411, the Taliban administration\u2019s spokesperson said on Tuesday. At least 3,251 people have been injured and more than 8,000 houses have been destroyed in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-500723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n