The death toll from a powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday has risen to more than 1,100, with at least 3,000 injured, according to updated figures from local authorities and aid agencies.
Initial Taliban estimates put fatalities at about 800, but the Afghan Red Crescent later confirmed 1,124 deaths and over 3,200 injuries, while officials in Nangarhar reported 1,109 killed and nearly 3,000 wounded. International relief groups, including the UN and WHO, are rushing emergency supplies, though landslides and damaged roads continue to block access to remote areas.
“The injured are being evacuated, so these figures may change significantly,” said Yousaf Hammad, spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority. He added that roads cut off by landslides are being cleared to reach isolated villages.
Rescue operations were carried out in four badly hit villages in Kunar on Monday, and efforts will now be focused on reaching more remote mountain areas, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the provincial head of disaster management.
