Death Toll from Afghanistan Earthquake at least 300: Supreme Leader

KOMPAS.com – A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing hundreds of people and injuring hundreds more, an official said on Wednesday, June 22.

Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said that the death toll from the earthquake in Afghanistan has risen to at least 300.

“Hundreds of houses have been destroyed and unfortunately 300 civilians have been martyred and more than 500 injured,” Akhundzada said in a statement to the media, adding that the toll was expected to rise.

The 5.9 magnitude quake struck hardest in the rugged terrain of the east, where people already live hardscrabble lives in a country in the grip of a humanitarian disaster made worse by the Taliban takeover in August.

Earlier, another spokesman told AFP many houses were damaged and people were still trapped inside.

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Yaqub Manzor, a tribal leader from Paktika province, said survivors were mobilizing to help those affected.

“The local markets are closed and all the people have rushed to the affected areas,” he told AFP by telephone.

Photographs and video clips posted on social media showed badly damaged mud houses in remote rural areas.

Some footage showed residents loading victims into a military helicopter.
Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan’s emergency response teams were stretched to deal with the natural disasters that frequently struck the country.