Death toll from Afghanistan earthquake climbs to 1,150

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - The death toll from Tuesday's earthquake in Afghanistan has risen to 1,150, an official said.

At least 1,600 people have been wounded in the magnitude 6.1 quake which shook the country's east, Abdul Wahid Rayan, a senior Taliban official and director general of state-run Bakhtar News Agency, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

Some 1,800 houses have collapsed, he added.

Rescue workers continue clearing the rubble to release the injured and recover bodies.

Humanitarian aid from Pakistan, Qatar and Iran has arrived in the country, the official said.

Paktika and Khost are the most affected Afghan provinces where several villages were completely destroyed by the deadly earthquake.

According to the locals, mass funerals were held on Wednesday.

"Our houses have collapsed and we are forced to live under the open sky," said Jamatullah, a local resident in Paktika, speaking to Anadolu Agency on the phone.

The injured have been transferred to hospitals, with some people in critical condition.

"We need food and shelter," said Khalid Zadran, spokesman of Kabul police, in a tweet.

On Wednesday, the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan announced an aid package of 1 billion Afghanis (over $11 million) for the victims.

However, the country is cash-strapped after the exit of foreign forces last August and the fall of the US-backed Kabul administration.