Death toll rises to 27 with nearly 1,000 injured in northern Afghanistan earthquake

KABUL (Afghanistan): The total death toll in the powerful earthquake that struck northern Afghanistan on Monday night has risen to 27, with nearly 1,000 others reported injured on Wednesday, Tolo reported, citing officials.

According to Tolo News, many victims, who lost their homes in the disaster, are currently taking shelter in school buildings, with survivors describing the destruction and the challenges they are now facing as winter approaches.

Gulabuddin, a resident of Samangan province, said that his house was completely destroyed, leaving him and ten family members homeless.

He also mourned the death of his pregnant daughter-in-law, saying, “When I ran outside, a brick fell on me and I was injured. My daughter-in-law, who was pregnant, was killed when the house collapsed. God saved eight other members of our family,” Tolo News reported.

In Khulm district, several families who lost their homes are also staying in schools and appealing for urgent assistance.
Nasim Gul, another survivor, said, “We need food and do not have a proper place to sit. Winter is approaching, and we have ten mouths to feed. My youngest child also became sick tonight,” Tolo News reported.

“Everything we had is buried under the rubble. We came to the school building, but here we have nothing,” added Mirza Mohammad, another survivor in the disaster.

Earlier in the early hours of Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck northern Afghanistan near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, causing widespread destruction in the region.

Preliminary reports indicated that the epicentre was in Samangan province, where most of the casualties and damage were reported.

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhail, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, confirmed the casualties, stating that more than 960 people were injured in Samangan, Balkh, Baghlan, and Kunduz provinces, Tolo News reported.

Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that at least 512 residential houses were fully or partially destroyed across the affected provinces.

According to NDMA data, around 418 injuries were reported in Samangan and approximately 435 in Balkh, with additional casualties in Baghlan, Jawzjan, Sar-e-Pul, and Kunduz.

Authorities have warned that without immediate support from the government and aid organisations, families displaced by the earthquake could face a severe humanitarian crisis as winter sets in.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday said that India delivered food items for families affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan.
Official spokesperson for the MEA, Randhir Jaiswal shared images of aid sent by India.

“Reaffirming its support to the Afghan people, India delivers food items for the families affected by the earthquake. India first responder,” Jaiswal said in a post on X.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday called his Afghanistan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi to convey condolences at the loss of lives in an earthquake that struck Balkh, Samangan and Baghlan provinces of the landlocked nation.

The earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck northern Afghanistan near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in the early hours of Monday at around 2:00 am IST, killing at least 20 people and injuring over 300 others.

The disaster adds to the list of deadly quakes to hit the country since the Taliban took power in 2021, which has tested the Taliban’s capacity to govern as foreign aid dwindles. Just two months ago, an earthquake in the east killed more than 2,000, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)