Rescuers are busy searching for survivors after the magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Afghanistan that killed at least 1,000 people and injured 1,500. On Thursday, aid workers also began digging mass graves.
The number of deaths is expected to rise further in the coming days because not everyone has been found yet. At least 1800 houses have been destroyed. The rescue work is made more difficult because most of the damage is in difficult mountainous areas.
“The earthquake in Afghanistan hits a country where about 20 million people already did not know how to eat every day,” said the director of the German aid organization Welthungerhilfe. Since the Taliban recaptured the country in 2021, many sanctions have been imposed on Afghanistan, causing a major food shortage.
“The local authorities have already said that foreign aid is welcome.” The Afghan government can hardly do this alone, according to the organization.