Quake kills 280, wounds 600 in Paktika & Khost

KABUL (Pajhwok): Nearly 900 people were killed and wounded in a predawn earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Officials put the toll at 280 dead and more than 600 others injured. They feared the number of fatalities could soar.

Naki, Zerok, Barmal, and Gayan districts of southeastern Paktika province are said to be the worst-hit areas. Parts of neighbouring Khost province were also damaged.

Helicopters and ambulances were dispatched to the affected areas to evacuate the injured to hospitals.

At least 25 people were killed and 95 others injured in Khost, Information Director Shabir Ahmad Osmani told Pajhwok Afghan News. A relief operation is ongoing in the province.

A number of residential buildings were destroyed in the two provinces by the quake, which was also felt in Pakistan and India.

Government spokesman Bilal Karimi tweeted that a severe earthquake struck four districts of Paktika province, causing hundreds of casualties.

Pictures shared on social media showed large-scale destruction in Paktika, where rescuers were seen evacuating the injured to a helicopter.

The magnitude 6.1 quake struck at a depth of some 51km, according to the US Geological Survey.

Scores of civilian homes were destroyed in Paktika and Khost, Karimi confirmed, urging emergency assistance to save lives.

Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, Paktika’s director of information, said: “Preliminary information shows 255 civilians are killed and 155 more wounded”.

mw/nh/mud