Rescue workers are hiking for hours through blocked mountain roads to reach earthquake victims in Afghanistan, where at least 1,400 people died when a big quake hit Sunday night, according to UN. The magnitude 6 earthquake struck northeastern regions and hurt over 3,100 people. Landslides and rockfalls from the quake and heavy rains before it hit have cut off roads to remote villages. United Nations (UN) teams had to dump their cars and walk two hours just to get to Ghazi Abad district. Some villages are still six or seven hours away on foot, and no one has reached them yet.
The death count will probably go higher as rescue teams get to more places. Even local government helicopters can’t reach some areas because of the rough terrain and weather damage. Phone networks are down almost everywhere, leaving rescue workers in the dark. Thousands of local people are walking into the disaster zone to help, bringing water and food with them.
“The issue of getting people out from under the rubble is urgent,” said Salam Al-Jabani from UNICEF in Kabul. “People are saying what is urgently needed is people to help us bury the dead and get them out.” One health clinic in Ghazi Abad has big cracks in the walls, so doctors are treating patients “outside, under trees” because they’re scared to work inside. Getting medicine to remote spots means carrying it on foot from the nearest hospital.
The UN sent 25 teams to check damage and boosted flights from Kabul. UNHCR is moving tents, blankets, and solar lamps from storage. But the World Food Programme says it can only feed earthquake victims “for a few more weeks before funding runs out.” Afghanistan needs $2.4 billion for aid this year but has only gotten $685.8 million from donors.
Afghan women are working 18-hour days as first helpers, but local rules make it hard for female survivors to get aid, showing why women aid workers matter in disasters.
