Figures corrected, 2053 suffer casualties in Herat quakes

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Natural Disaster Management Authority on Sunday corrected casualty figures in Saturday’s earthquakes from nearly 11,300 people to 2,053.

Earlier in the day at 11:30am, the Natural Disaster Management Authority said the death toll from strong earthquakes in western Herat province had crossed 2,050, with more than 9240 injured.

But in the afternoon, the authority said these figures were not correct and 2053 people had suffered casualties in magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which was followed by strong aftershocks that jolted Herat and neighbouring provinces on Saturday.

However, the authority did not say how many have been killed and how many injured and apologized to the nation, especially the people of Herat province, for the incorrect figures.

Mullah Jan Saiq, spokesman for the Natural Disaster Management Authority, told a press conference that 2,053 people had lost their lives and 9,240 had been wounded.

“We received conflicting reports from different teams from the region due to the emergency situation, the earlier mentioned numbers are not correct,” the authority said.

It explained 9240 people were the population of the villages hit by the earthquake, not the number of injured people as a total of 2053 people suffered casualties.

The Natural Disaster Management Authority said over 1,320 homes were completely destroyed and most of the casualties happened in Zinda Jan and Ghorian districts of the province.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy spokesman for economic affairs, expressed his condolences to the dead and injured.

Baradar directed local organisations to reach earthquake-hit areas as soon as possible to help take the injured to hospital, provide shelter for the homeless and deliver food to survivors.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) wrote on its X handle that it had sent medicine and medical supplies to Herat hospitals for the treatment of the injured. It promised providing further necessary assistance.

sa/mud/ma