A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan around midnight at a depth of 10 km, killing at least 812 people across Kunar and Nangarhar and injuring thousands. Simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys collapsed, trapping many under debris and killing some children. Rescuers searched through the night but struggled to reach remote areas because of rough mountainous terrain and bad weather. Villagers wrapped the dead in white shrouds and buried them while helicopters ferried the wounded to hospitals. Taliban and health ministry spokespeople called for international aid as the disaster strains already limited resources.
The Taliban has called for international aid as Afghanistan reels from an earthquake that killed more than 800 people and left thousands injured. Rescuers searched into the night for survivors on Monday after the 6.0 magnitude quake struck on Sunday. Many were trapped under the debris of simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys. Rescuers struggled to reach remote areas due to rough mountainous terrain and inclement weather.
The rooms and walls collapsed killing some children and injuring others, said 22-year-old Zafar Khan Gojar, who was evacuated from Nurgal to Jalalabad along with his brother, whose leg was broken. The disaster will further stretch the resources of the war-torn nation's Taliban administration, already grappling with crises ranging from a sharp drop in foreign aid to deportations of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighbouring countries.
Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul, called for international aid to tackle the devastation wrought by the quake of magnitude 6 that struck around midnight local time, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles). We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses, he told Reuters. The quake killed 812 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.
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