Afghanistan earthquake death toll rises to 2,200

More than 2,200 people died in the region’s mountainous regions of southeast Afghanistan as a result of a major earthquake that hit the country over the weekend, according to a spokesperson for the Taliban government.

According to estimates, about 1,400 people died. The updated death toll, according to Hamdullah Fitrat, was 2, 205, according to a taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat on Thursday.

First aid and emergency supplies are being delivered, according to Fitrat, and tents have been set up for people.

As search and rescue efforts raged on Thursday, a third earthquake struck the area. No new deaths have been reported as a result of the earthquake’s magnitude 6,2 magnitude.

According to Ali Hashem of Al Jazeera, “We were in a building and everyone was fleeing and fearing for their lives,” the earthquake’s impact on Kunar Province’s residents was immediate. “People are simply afraid of what might occur.”

One of the most deadly earthquakes in recent memory was caused by the shallowness of Sunday’s epicenter, which was approximately eight kilometers (5 miles) deep.

The Taliban claimed that the magnitude 6 earthquake on Sunday and the subsequent magnitude 5 earthquake on Tuesday left at least 3, 640 people injured. The UN has warned that the death toll could rise as more people remain trapped beneath rubble, particularly in Kunar, one of the worst-hit provinces, as a result of the UN’s warning that more people may remain trapped underground.

World Food Programme Afghanistan’s country director, John Aylieff, told Al Jazeera on Thursday, “We’re seeing utter devastation, a real catastrophe.” “We have homes that have been completely destroyed.”

The Kunar province, where people typically reside in wood and mud-brick homes along steep river valleys separated by high mountains, is where the majority of the casualties have occurred.

Hashem reported from Afghanistan that this terrain has had a significant impact on rescue efforts. His team requested a three-hour drive to the site of Sunday’s earthquake, and was instructed to walk for two hours.

Hashem said, “There are some people behind the mountains who are dying in silence.”

According to authorities, more than 6,700 homes have been destroyed. In their search for lost loved ones, survivors are sifting through the remains. The challenging terrain is preventing relief efforts.

To assist survivors, Taliban authorities have flown army commandos and helicopters. Several aid workers reported enduring hours of walking to towns whose landslides and rockfall have caused the country’s villages to be barren.

There is “only rubble left,” according to Obaidullah Stoman, 26, who searched for a friend in the Kunar village of Wadir in Kunar’s Nugral district.

“I’m looking here, but I missed seeing him.” He claimed that it was difficult for him to understand the circumstances here.

Five members of Akhlaq’s family were killed in the remote village by the earthquake, which injured and had to be taken to the hospital.

The Kunar region’s head of disaster management, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said, “We cannot accurately predict how many bodies might still be buried beneath the rubble.”

Aylieff warned on Thursday that the World Food Programme only has enough food to last a few weeks, claiming rescue teams are having trouble getting to far-off the earthquake-stricken areas.

According to him, “We’re using every means possible, including small pick-ups, pack animals, and even in some cases, villagers are coming down and bringing food back to the communities,” he told Al Jazeera.

Due to its position near the confluence of the Indian and Eurasian plates, Afghanistan has previously experienced devastating earthquakes.