Afghanistan quake death toll tops 2,200: govt spokesman

KABUL: More than 2,200 people were killed in the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan at the weekend, according to the latest toll from the Taliban authorities.

The vast majority of the total 2,217 dead and nearly 4,000 injured were in the mountainous Kunar province near the border with Pakistan, deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat wrote on X on Thursday, adding that “rescue efforts are still ongoing”.

Rescue teams struggled Wednesday to reach survivors days after a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, as access to remote areas remained obstructed.

A magnitude-6.0 shallow earthquake hit the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late Sunday, collapsing mud-brick homes on families as they slept.

Fearful of the near-constant aftershocks, people huddled in the open or struggled to unearth those trapped under the heaps of flattened buildings.

The earthquake killed at least 1,469 people and injured more than 3,700, according to the earlier toll from Taliban authorities, making it one of the deadliest in decades to hit the impoverished country.

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said on X that the quake had “affected more than 500,000 people” in eastern Afghanistan.

The vast majority of the casualties were in Kunar province, with a dozen dead and hundreds hurt in nearby Nangarhar and Laghman provinces.

Access remained difficult, as aftershocks caused rockfall, stymying access to already isolated villages and keeping families outdoors for fear of the remains of damaged homes collapsing on them.