Afghan Quake Survivors Search for Loved Ones With Bare Hands

Mr Mir Salam Khan mourns the loss of his wife and three children in Afghanistan's mountainous eastern province of Kunar, which was hit by a 6-magnitude earthquake, destroying thousands of homes.

- 

MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan – Mr Mir Salam Khan mourns the loss of his wife and three children in Afghanistan's mountainous eastern province of Kunar, which was hit by a 6-magnitude earthquake, destroying thousands of homes.

"We buried them with wooden planks and plastic sheets, so the soil would not fall directly on the bodies," said the 65-year-old resident of Mazar Dara village. "That was all we could do."

The shallow midnight tremor on Aug. 31, Afghanistan's deadliest quake in years, killed more than 2,200 people and destroyed over 5,000 houses, officials of the Taliban administration have said.

But harsh weather and rugged terrain have hampered rescue work.

Here, the dead are usually wrapped in shrouds and placed in graves topped with cement slabs.