Afghanistan earthquakes: more than 2,400 dead, at least 2,000 injured, homes destroyed
- The death toll from an earthquake and aftershocks in western Afghanistan rose sharply on Sunday, with the number expected to rise further
- Rescuers scrabbled for survivors among the ruins of villages razed to the ground, with 13 said to be destroyed
More than 2,400 people have been killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the earthquake-prone mountainous country in years.
The Saturday earthquakes in the west of the country hit 35km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
They were among the world’s deadliest earthquakes this year, after tremors in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 people in February.
Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said in a message to Reuters that the death toll had risen to 2,445, but he revised down the number of injured to “more than 2,000”. Earlier, he had said that 9,240 people had been injured.
Sayeeq also said 1,320 houses had been damaged or destroyed. The death toll spiked from 500 reported earlier on Sunday by the Red Crescent.
Ten rescue teams were in the area, which borders Iran, Sayeeq told a press conference.
More than 200 dead had been brought to various hospitals, said a Herat health department official who identified himself as Dr Danish, adding that most of the victims were women and children.
