Nearly 2,500 dead as earthquake hits Afghanistan

More than 2,400 people have been reported dead after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan on Saturday morning.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, Janan Sayeeq told Reuters news agency on Sunday evening that the death toll had risen to 2,445, up from 2,053 that was earlier reporter.

At least 2,000 people have been injured in the disaster that occurred 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat in the Herat Province of Afghanistan.

Mr Sayeeq earlier said 2,053 people were killed, 9,240 injured, and 1,320 houses damaged or destroyed.

Humanitarian groups say more casualties are expected as rescue teams search for possible survivors from the debris of collapsed buildings.

“The scale of the damage is horrific,” said Arshad Malik, Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan.

“The numbers affected by this tragedy are truly disturbing – and those numbers will rise as people are still trapped in the rubble of their homes in Herat. Our thoughts and condolences are with all those who have lost loved ones.”

Non-governmental organizations like the ICRC and UNOCHA have been assisting rescue teams in the Herat Province to provide foods, water, medicines and clothes.

According to the United Nations, the scale of the humanitarian crisis is unprecedented.

The quake comes eight months after a catastrophic earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in February, killing over 50,000 people in both countries.

The lives of Afghans, who have not yet fully recovered from decades of war, have become even more complicated as a result. After the United States pulled its forces out of the country in 2021, the Taliban were able to seize control of it.

Since then, a number of nations have severed their diplomatic connections with the Arab nation, and the government of the United States and its allies have frozen around seven billion dollars worth of the country’s foreign reserves.

Mimi Mefo Info