Days after quake, Afghan survivors still await aid

RESCUE teams struggled this week to reach survivors days after a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan left more than 1 400 people dead, as access to remote areas remained obstructed.

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A magnitude-6.0 shallow earthquake hit the mountainous region bordering Pakistan at the weekend, 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 latest 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.