Rescuers in Afghanistan yesterday were trying to reach isolated villages in the eastern region of Kunar, the epicenter of an earthquake that killed 1,124 people, according to the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
At least 3,251 people have been injured and more than 8,000 houses have been destroyed in the disaster, the group said.
Rescue operations were carried out in four villages in Kunar on Monday after the quake struck and efforts were now being focused on reaching more remote mountain areas, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the provincial head of disaster management.
Photo: AFP
“We cannot accurately predict how many bodies might still be trapped under the rubble,” Ehsan said. “Our effort is to complete these operations as soon as possible and to begin distributing aid to the affected families.”
Mountainous terrain and inclement weather have hindered rescuers reaching remote areas along the Pakistani border where the earthquake flattened mudbrick homes.
Gaining access for vehicles on the narrow mountain roads was the main obstacle for relief work, Ehsan said, adding that machinery was being brought in to clear roads of debris.
A line of ambulances was on the damaged mountain road trying to reach Kunar villages yesterday, as helicopters flew in, bringing aid supplies and taking the injured to hospitals, a witness said.
Some of those injured have been transferred to hospitals in Kabul and the adjacent province of Nangarhar, Ehsan said.
Thousands of children were at risk, the UN Children’s Fund said yesterday.
UNICEF said it was sending medicines, warm clothing, tents and tarpaulins for shelter, and hygiene items such as soap, detergent, towels, sanitary pads and water buckets.
“Our response focuses on addressing urgent needs across health, safe water, sanitation, nutrition, child protection, temporary shelter, and psychosocial support to ensure that children and families receive life-saving assistance as quickly as possible,” UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan Tajudeen Oyewale said in a statement.
Taliban soldiers were deployed in the area, providing help and security.
The disaster has further stretched the war-torn nation’s Taliban administration, already grappling with a sharp drop in foreign aid and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighboring nations.
“National and international organizations are present in the area, have organized their assistance, and, God willing, aid will be distributed in an orderly manner,” Ehsan said.
Rescue teams and authorities were trying to dispose of animal carcasses quickly so as to minimize the risk of contamination to water resources, a UN official said.
“Damaged roads, ongoing aftershocks, and remote locations of many villages severely impede the delivery of aid,” the WHO said in a situation update. “The pre-earthquake fragility of the health system means local capacity is overwhelmed, creating total dependence on external actors.”
Afghanistan has been badly hit by US President Donald Trump’s decision in January to cut funding to its humanitarian arm USAID and reductions in other foreign aid programs.
Crises elsewhere in the world, along with donor frustration over the Taliban’s policies toward women and curbs on aid workers, have been a factor in funding cuts, diplomats and aid officials said.
Humanitarian officials said the shrinking of funding was hampering the response to the quake.
In the wake of the latest disaster, the UK allocated ￡1 million (US$1.34 million) to support the efforts of the UN and the International Red Cross in delivering critical healthcare and emergency supplies to affected Afghans.
China said it was ready to provide disaster relief assistance “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity,” while India delivered 1,000 family tents to Kabul and was moving 15 tonnes of food supplies to Kunar.
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