Updated 23.36 | Published 10.36
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With bare hands and shovels, people are still digging for survivors after Saturday’s earthquake in western Afghanistan.
Time is short and the chance of finding survivors is considered small.
So far, more than 2,400 victims have been confirmed, but the number is expected to rise.
Rescue workers are trying to locate people buried in their homes in the earthquake. According to the UN, 11 villages have been completely razed to the ground. Families have been wiped out.
– There are families where not a single person survived. No one is left, not a single woman or child. No one, says 50-year-old Ali Mohammad in the village of Nayeb Rafi, a village where 2,000 people used to live.
Different numbers
In a village not far from there, 300 people were buried in a large funeral ceremony on Monday.
Information on how many people died in the earthquake has varied greatly. On Sunday, the country’s Taliban-run emergency authority said 2,053 people were dead and more than 11,000 were injured or had their homes destroyed. Now 2,200 have been confirmed, but there is talk that the death toll could land significantly higher.
– We have an estimated over 4,500 dead and injured, but the numbers change all the time, said Mullah Janan Sayeq, spokesperson for the authority, on Monday.
Sleeping under the open sky
It has been difficult for rescue personnel to reach the area. Iran has promised to send 20 rescue teams, including dogs. Other countries have promised to send food and medicine.
Hundreds of families are now forced to sleep under the open sky, both to escape aftershocks and because several houses have been destroyed.
– The children cannot sleep in the house. They wake up screaming in fear. The fear is palpable, says 34-year-old Hazrat, while noting that there is also no food for the children.