Afghanistan Deadly Earthquake Claims Over 2,000 Lives

Amir Hussain, a 33-year-old volunteer rescuer, recounted retrieving multiple deceased individuals, including three young children, from the disaster site. The earthquake has reduced the rugged village of Kashkak, located on a dusty plateau in western Afghanistan, to a heap of debris comprising mud-brick houses.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake and eight strong aftershocks devastated the village on Saturday morning, causing widespread destruction and burying residents.

“We took out several dead bodies; three of them were little children,” said Amir Hussain, a 33-year-old volunteer rescue worker who dug through the night in the hope of finding survivors. “They had just left school when one was fatally injured in the street,and two more lost their lives at home,”he-stated.

In his vicinity, men wearing dusty attire were busy excavating the camel-colored soil. Some were searching for bodies, while others were digging graves for the deceased. One man, dazed with emotion, was led through a maze of burial pits that now pockmark the earth. The gravediggers paused to watch him pass, then got back to their work, mounding piles of earth over the dead.

Village rescue worker Maula Dad said, “We were told that the number of deaths has reached up to 170.”

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According to government reports, an “unprecedented” earthquake has claimed the lives of approximately 2,053 people, causing the collapse of 1,300 houses across 13 villages in the western Herat province.

Late Sunday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that fatalities had surpassed 1,000 and confirmed the total destruction of “100 percent” of homes in 11 villages.

Herat region faces ongoing challenges: large displaced population from two decades of war and prolonged years-long drought.

And Afghanistan in general is suffering from a massive reduction in foreign-aid since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.

Nonetheless supplies gradually began to arrive on the scene of the hard-to-reach village including food,water,tents–and some coffins for the dead. In one aid tent, volunteers were distributing stacks of flat Afghan bread, while nearby Red Crescent trucks were unloading supplies.

Children meandered over blocks of mud-formed masonry which were once simple homes, now turned inside-out with belongings such as backpacks, cookware and toothbrushes out in the open. Along what was once the village’s main throughfare,a man carried child-sized bundle cradled in his arms,shrouded in a red-fleece blanket. Nearby, a mother lamented her situation.

“Everyone from our family is in the hospital. I haven’t heard from them,” said 40-year-old Fatima. “We are all finished; there is nothing.”

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