Death Toll in Afghan Earthquake Surpasses 2,200 as Efforts to Rescue Survivors Intensify

By CBS News

Four days after a seismic event devastated parts of Afghanistan, the number of reported fatalities has climbed to at least 2,205. This calamity struck the Kunar and Nangarhar regions around 11:40 p.m. on Sunday night while many were asleep. The Taliban leadership reports that an additional 3,640 individuals have sustained injuries.

Rescue teams and aid workers were still making urgent efforts to locate any remaining survivors on Thursday, according to Taliban representatives.

Faced with the widespread damage and aid delays, notably in Kunar's hardest-hit areas, surviving members of the community have started to inter their deceased relatives in mass graves, a practice consistent with Islamic customs prioritizing rapid burial.

"Here lies my daughter, my sister occupies the next grave, then my brother is buried there, along with my mother and father," Wazir, a 25-year-old, recounted to TOLO News while indicating the resting places of his family among fresh graves.

The villages most affected are in secluded parts of the province, exacerbated by landslides that have rendered many roads impassable. In footage shared by the Ministry of Interior, police and rescue crews were shown clearing pathways by hand-moving large stones.

With helicopters unable to reach some mountainous villages, commandos resorted to descending by rope to deliver aid.

Per Save The Children, a relief team trekked over 12 miles with medical supplies, supported by locals, to arrive at areas blocked by landslides.

The World Health Organization announced an expansion of its crisis response in Afghanistan, expecting the casualty and injury counts to increase as more people are discovered beneath the debris.

Over 6,782 dwellings have been demolished, displacing countless citizens amid inadequate shelter. Local hospitals are overwhelmed by patients needing critical interventions.

The quake's epicenter lay in Afghanistan's remote mountainous zone, land already prone to tremors, which continues to experience significant aftershocks, forcing many to sleep outdoors.

This catastrophe further exacerbates Afghanistan's pre-existing humanitarian plight.

The Afghan authorities and international agencies have pleaded for aid to assist quake victims. The Norwegian Refugee Council indicates that local capacities in Kunar are severely overstretched.

In the aftermath, people have lost nearly everything—relatives, homes, animals, and vital water resources. Makeshift shelters house 50 to 100 women and children per tent, lacking essential sanitation facilities.

The Taliban has circulated bank details seeking private donations. Foreign Affairs Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi encouraged Afghan diplomats to appeal for assistance globally.

Suhail Shaheen, serving as Afghanistan's envoy in Qatar, mentioned the directive for embassies to open condolence registers and outline the disaster’s critical needs.

Numerous countries have pledged support, but the scope of the devastation suggests much more will be necessary.

Non-recognition by several Western nations of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government complicates securing emergency financing, analysts suggest.

Afghanistan: Facing New Challenges

Ahmad Mukhtar, a CBS News producer in Toronto, focuses on reporting about political affairs, conflict, and terrorism, with particular interest in Canada and Afghanistan, the latter of which he left post-Taliban return in 2021.