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News Topical, Digital Desk : The death toll in the most devastating earthquake to hit northern Afghanistan on Monday is rising, rescue operations are still underway and thousands of people are feared trapped under the rubble. A Taliban government spokesman said on Tuesday that the death toll in the devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan has risen to more than 1,400.
Zabihullah Mujahid said on the social platform X that more than 3,000 people were injured. A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the mountainous region late Sunday night while people were sleeping. The quake destroyed homes and levelled entire villages.
'The death toll may increase'
"The injured are being evacuated, so these figures are subject to considerable change," said Yusuf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority. "The earthquake caused landslides in some areas, blocking roads, but they have been reopened. The remaining roads will also be reopened to enable access to areas that were previously hard to reach," he said.
A terrible earthquake struck on Sunday night
However, a different and more sombre estimate by the Afghan Red Crescent Society put the number at 3,251 people injured and more than 8,000 homes destroyed. A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck several provinces late Sunday, destroying villages and trapping people under the rubble of homes made of mud bricks and wood that could not withstand the tremor. The quake was followed by several aftershocks.
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