Helicopter rescue teams are combing remote mountain villages in eastern Afghanistan after a powerful earthquake killed more than 800 people on Sunday, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency.
The magnitude 6.0 quake struck Kunar province at a shallow depth of 8km (5 miles), making it especially destructive. Entire villages were reported to have been flattened, while roads blocked by landslides have forced rescue efforts to be carried out largely by air.
Officials fear the death toll could rise sharply as many people remain trapped beneath rubble.
Survivors in the quake-hit areas have described widespread devastation, with homes reduced to rubble and families still searching desperately for missing relatives.
The UN’s coordinator in Afghanistan told the BBC that hot meals and blankets are being prepared for displaced residents. Aid workers, however, warned that difficult terrain and limited access to remote communities are slowing relief efforts.
The Taliban government has appealed for urgent international support.
Meanwhile, the UK on Monday pledged £1m in humanitarian assistance, with officials stressing that the funds would be channelled directly through relief organisations and not handed to the Taliban.
Tremors from the quake were felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, more than 300km (186 miles) from the epicentre.
Sunday’s disaster is the deadliest earthquake to hit Afghanistan in recent years, reviving painful memories of the June 2022 quake in Paktika province that killed more than 1,000 people.
