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.

But with only a handful of airworthy planes and helicopters, an immediate response is often limited.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes -- especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

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Scores of people were killed and injured in January when two quakes struck rural areas in the western province of Badghis, damaging hundreds of buildings.

In 2015, more than 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake ripped across the two countries, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan. The latest earthquake came at a time when Afghanistan is battling a severe humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the country.

Aid agencies and the United Nations say Afghanistan needs billions of dollars this year to tackle the crisis.

Aid agencies have particularly stressed the need for greater disaster preparedness in Afghanistan, which remains extremely susceptible to recurring earthquakes, floods, and landslides.

Source: Agence France-Presse