2 thousand 445 people have died in the earthquake in Afghanistan so far. The Taliban administration announced the new death toll on Sunday and said the death toll may increase.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 35 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of the western city of Herat last Saturday. It was one of the world’s deadliest after earthquakes in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 people last February.
Janan Sayek, spokesman for Afghanistan’s disaster ministry, told Reuters news agency that 2,445 people have died in the earthquake so far. However, he revised the number of injured to more than 2,000. Earlier, he had put the number of injured at 9,240.
Sayek also said that about 1,320 houses were damaged or destroyed. 10 rescue teams are in the border area of Iran.
Nasima, a resident of Herat, Afghanistan, who witnessed the earthquake, said, “We are all scared.” After the earthquake, people left their homes and stayed on the streets.
Doctor of the country’s health department. Danish said that more than 200 bodies have been taken to different hospitals. Most of them are bodies of women and children.
Pictures circulating on social media showed beds being set up outside Herat’s main hospital to help victims.
Suhail Shaheen, head of the political office of the Taliban in Qatar, said in a message to the media that food, drinking water, medicine, clothes and tents are urgently needed for rescue and relief.
Earthquakes are frequent in the Hindu Kush region of mountainous Afghanistan bordering Pakistan. Rescue operations after an earthquake are very difficult as the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed due to war. Due to this, the death toll after earthquakes in the country is high.
Afghanistan’s healthcare is heavily dependent on foreign aid. International aid to the country has largely stopped since the Taliban took power.
According to analysts, the Taliban’s restrictions on women and the context of international politics have led donor countries to withhold financial aid to Afghanistan.
