800 Killed As Earthquake Hits Afghanistan

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing More than 800 people, injuring nearly 3,000, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency has said.

Afghan officials said that most of the deaths occurred in Kunar province, and the death toll threatens to rise as entire villages have been destroyed.

The most brutal hit was in a remote mountainous area, where rescue operations have been complex. “The scale of devastation is unimaginable,” a Taliban official said.

The natural disaster struck the country of Afghanistan, when it was still facing a severe drought, aid cuts and what the World Food Programme described as an unprecedented hunger crisis.

The earthquake struck at 23:47 local time (19:47 GMT) on Sunday, some 27km (17 miles) east of Jalalabad, the country’s fifth-largest city, in eastern Nangarhar province.

Faridullah Fazli was fast asleep at home in Asadabad, on the banks of the Kunar River, and the tremor jolted him awake.

“There was a powerful earthquake, accompanied by terrifying sounds,” he told the BBC.

“We didn’t sleep until morning. After the earthquake, there were small tremors, and there are still.”

Fazli said he went to the clinic in town, helping transport the dead and wounded into ambulances to be taken to a hospital further south in Nangarhar province.

“It was a terrifying situation, just an atmosphere of fear and terror,” Fazli said.

A resident of Mazar Dara, in the Nurgal region, said 95% of the village had been destroyed, with five to 10 injured people in every household.