Earthquake in Afghan village leaves no family untouched

The ruling Taliban administration and aid officials have a daunting task to rescue and help thousands of Afghans with a tinier budget than ever and an economy in crisis

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No household was spared death or injury in the village of Wadir when a powerful earthquake shook eastern Afghanistan, reducing homes to piles of rubble.

‘Aftershocks from the 6.0-magnitude earthquake continued to rumble across the scenes of destruction, where remains of dead livestock jutted out from a tangle of broken beams and muddy, flattened homes.

“In every home at least one person was killed or injured,” 55-year-old resident Gul Mohammad Rasooli told AFP, himself injured.

The smell of death mingled with the sound of wailing women and scraping shovels as rescuers and residents desperately tried to find anyone still alive.

In front of what was a single-storey mud-brick home, rescuers were undeterred by a string of aftershocks that sent a din echoing between the mountains as they tried to find two children.