Great suffering after earthquake – the death toll rises

The quake in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday is estimated to have claimed 1,150 lives. For those who survived, there is now a struggle to get food and housing.

According to Save the Children, more than 118,000 children have been affected by the disaster.

Many children probably lack drinking water, food and a safe place to sleep, according to the organization.

Three days after the deadliest earthquake in Afghanistan in decades, thousands of people still lack food, shelter and water. The death toll has also been written up, to at least 1,150 people, according to state media.

Entire villages in Patika Province, where the earthquake with a magnitude of around 6 occurred, are said to have been leveled. Survivors testify that they do not even have access to equipment to bury the dead, and in several places the rescue work has consisted of locals digging in the rubble with their bare hands.

Deadly aftershocks

– There are no blankets, tents. No housing. Our entire water system has been destroyed. There is nothing to eat, says 21-year-old Zaitullah Ghurziwal to the news agency AFP’s reporters on site in Patika.

The area is still affected by aftershocks, which in some cases are said to kill even more people, who in terror tried to take shelter in already severely damaged buildings.

According to Afghan authorities, 10,000 houses have been destroyed, a devastatingly high figure given that the average household in the area consists of over 20 people.

Great need for help

The catastrophe is a test for the Afghan Taliban regime, which through its hardline government has isolated the country from the outside world. But several aid organizations have already arrived to help with supplies, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said the organization, with its many aid agencies, is “fully mobilizing” to help the Afghans.