At least 1,000 people have been killed in an earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday. This is according to government sources, according to the Afghan media Bakhtar.
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In addition, at least 1,500 people were injured in the quake.
A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 hit Paktika province in Afghanistan on Wednesday night, reports the BBC. 610 people must be seriously injured.
– Currently, there is very limited information from the earthquake area itself. We have a mobile health team from this province before, which runs every moment, says senior adviser Torben Henriksen in the Red Cross to VG.
Paktika is located south of the capital Kabul, and is described as a relatively remote province.
– In Paktika, there are mainly villagers who are engaged in agriculture. They live in simple houses built of earth and clay. We are not talking about large structures, but simple constructions that may have collapsed quite easily, Henriksen explains.
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– There is every reason to believe that there are many injuries. Fractures and the like, he continues. Henriksen explains that there is a lack of health care in the area, and that it is therefore important for the aid organizations to contribute with first aid.
– Severe earthquake
“There was a severe earthquake last night in four districts of Paktika province, which killed and injured hundreds of our countrymen, and destroyed dozens of buildings,” government spokesman Bilar Karimi said in a Twitter update.
– We ask all rescue organizations to send teams to the area immediately, to prevent a major disaster, he adds.
Although the quake has also affected other provinces, a predominance of the dead have so far been in Paktika.
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– There is great uncertainty about the number of injured and killed, but we know that several people are trapped under damaged houses. The Red Cross and Red Crescent map the extent of the disaster and at the same time provide help to those who need it, says Bernt G. Apeland, Secretary General of the Red Cross.
In a press release, the organization states that they are in place in the Gyan district of Patika province. At the same time, trucks with food and medicine from the Afghanistan Red Crescent are on their way to the earthquake area.
– The death toll is likely to increase, as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains. It will take time to gather information, says Salahuddin Ayubi in the Afghan Interior Ministry according to Reuters.
Felt tremors 500 from the epicenter
According to the BBC, some areas of neighboring Pakistan are also affected by the quake. Also the Pakistani capital Islamabad
The quake had a depth of 51 km, according to the US Geological Survey. The epicenter was reported 46 miles (46 kilometers) southwest of Khost.
–The European Mediterranean Seismological Center reports that several people have felt tremors more than 500 km away, reports the news agency Reuters.
Afghanistan is relatively often hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which is where two parts of the earth’s crust meet.
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