Over 600 people dead in Afghanistan's earthquake

Rescue teams continue to search for survivors among the ruins.

According to the first reports, 30 victims have been found in only one village, but accurate figures have not been collected yet, as it is about a remote mountainous area of scattered villages.

The number of victims and injuries is high, but because the area is difficult to achieve, our teams are still on the ground”, said the spokesman for the Taliban Health Ministry, Sharafat Zaman.

According to reports, three villages were completely destroyed in the province of Kunar, while many others suffered considerable damage.

The 6-magnitude quake fell at midnight at a depth of eight miles [8 km], destroying mud and stone houses on the border with Pakistan's Khiber Partuncva region, officials announced.

Another earthquake, with magnitude 4.5, hit the region about 20 minutes later, followed by another 5.2 quake, according to the German Geoscence Research Centre (GFZ).

The Afghan government, led by the Taliban, called for urgent assistance from international organisations.

In an X post, she said the earthquake caused <x0 loss of life and material damage in several eastern provinces”.

A resident in the province of Nangarhar told Radio Azadi Free Europe Radio, said that “people's homes have been destroyed”.

Everything is flat. It is urgent to distribute health packages to people and provide food”, he said.

The earthquake-hit region was still facing the consequences of floods that occurred at the weekend.

Floods included provinces Nangarhar and Kunnar, causing the deaths of at least five people.

They caused landslides, damaged infrastructure and temporarily blocked circulation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, especially in the Hindu Cum, is often hit by earthquakes.

The number of victims is extremely high due to poor construction standards, remote countries and difficulty in offering aid to victims. / REL/