Killer earthquake in Afghanistan, at least 1,000 dead

2022-06-23T10:12:06.501Z

Afghanistan is once again on its knees, in the throes of an emergency triggered by a powerful earthquake which - according to the latest budget, which in any case seems destined to worsen - has caused at least 1,000 deaths and 1,500 injuries. (HANDLE)

June 23, 12:00

Primopiano

Killer earthquake in Afghanistan, at least 1,000 dead

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Over 1,000 killed in earthquake in eastern Afghanistan © ANSA

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 22 - Afghanistan once again on its knees, in the throes of an emergency triggered by a powerful earthquake which - according to the latest budget, which seems destined to worsen - has caused at least 1,000 deaths and 1,500 injuries.

It was a race against time for help, but the alarm went off immediately also due to a foreseeable escalation of the food emergency in a country already at risk with many areas well beyond the poverty line.

The area most affected by the earthquake is the eastern part of the country, in particular the provinces of Paktika and Khost.

Images from the Paktikam area show landslides and severe damage to homes.

The earthquake devastated the area near the border with Pakistan and was felt in the middle of the night: with a magnitude of 5,

9 spread from 10 kilometers deep, according to the US Geological Monitoring Institute Usgs.

From some indications it also appears that it has been perceived even in the capital Kabul and in that of neighboring Pakistan, Islamabad.

It is the earthquake that has caused the most victims in the last twenty years in Afghanistan and for the regime of the Albanians, which last year regained power, constitutes an enormous challenge: the emergency is added in fact to the economic crisis that has worsened since then. government settlement led by the Islamic movement.

The first part of the day was marked by the count of the victims: the balance was rapidly updated over the course of the hours, until the dramatic finding of the local managers in Paktika: "Pits are being dug after the pit"

to contain the victims, "there are still people trapped in the rubble."

This is also because the earthquake hit an area already made vulnerable by heavy rains.

The testimonies collected are dramatic: "It was horrible - Arup Khan, 22 years old hospitalized in Sharan hospital, capital of Paktika province, told AFP -. There were screams everywhere. The children and my family were under the mud".

According to a UN envoy, about 2,000 homes have been destroyed.

The last very serious earthquake to hit Afghanistan - of magnitude 7.5 - dates back to 2015, when, however, around 380 victims were in total between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pope Francis launched the first appeal for aid mobilization: "I express my closeness to the wounded and to those affected by the earthquake, and I pray in particular for those who have lost their lives and their families. I hope that with the help of all the sufferings of the dear Afghan population ", said the pontiff at the end of the general audience in St. Peter's Square, when the toll of the earthquake, although dramatic, was still a few hundred victims.

Then, from the UN headquarters in New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres: "

The United Nations in Afghanistan is fully mobilized, our teams are already on the ground to assess the needs and provide initial support. "He then stressed that he" counted on the international community to help support the hundreds of families affected by this latest disaster ", stating that "now is the time for solidarity." To explain the catastrophic impact that the damage caused by the earthquake is likely to have on a country that is already exhausted, are the data supplied by the World Food Program: already 22.8 million Afghans - over half of the population - they suffer from hunger. The local currency is at an all-time low and food prices are rising.

Acute malnutrition is above the emergency threshold in 27 of the 34 provinces, and is expected to worsen, with nearly half of children under the age of five and 25% of pregnant and breastfeeding women urgently in need of lifesaving nutritional support.

The WFP then calculated the need for $ 220 million a month for life-saving interventions.

(HANDLE).

RP / S0B QBXB (ANSA).

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