shock and despair after whole villages destroyed

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9543/live/3934ca20-875b-11f0-ac15-0be71ebd833b.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Matiullah Shahab Matiullah Shahab in the village of AndarLachak Tangi which was hit by the earthquake" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Matiullah Shahab Matiullah Shahab helped dig graves within the village of Andarlachak Tangi, which was amongst these hit by Sunday's earthquake

Simply earlier than midnight on Sunday, Matiullah Shahab woke as much as discover his home in Afghanistan's distant Kunar province shaking.

An earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude had struck jap Afghanistan, leaving at the least 800 folks useless, based on the UN.

Despite the fact that the epicentre of the quake was 16km away, the entire of Shahab's village of Asadabad trembled. The 23 relations who dwell with him ran out of their bedrooms as they feared the partitions would fall in on them, and stayed awake all night time of their backyard. "We have been all afraid," he says.

The areas worst hit by the quake have been Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, nevertheless it was felt as distant as Kabul and in neighbouring Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

When day broke, Matiullah - who's a contract journalist and human rights activist - drove from his dwelling to attempt to attain the distant mountainous space on the epicentre of the quake.

He says he needed to get out of his automobile and stroll for 2 hours earlier than he arrived on the worst-hit villages as there have been rocks on the street.

He arrived on the village of Andarlachak to seek out a number of younger kids being handled by medics on the street. A pair of toddlers lay collectively on a stretcher with bruises on their chests and faces.

Different kids have been wrapped in white sheets. Some 79 folks died in that village alone.

"I noticed many useless our bodies," Matiullah tells the BBC. "I felt the aftershocks 17 instances."

Watch: Aerial footage reveals buildings destroyed to rubble after Afghanistan earthquake

Matiullah helped the native folks dig graves for the many individuals who had died.

"The villages I visited have been destroyed," he says. One man advised Shabab that his spouse and 4 kids had died. However most have been too shocked to talk.

"Peoples' faces have been lined in mud and there was a silence," he mentioned. "They have been like robots - nobody may discuss it."

As a result of blocked roads, Taliban authorities rescue operations have relied on helicopters to succeed in the mountain villages. However the distant, mountainous terrain means some locations stay inaccessible, whereas there are experiences of individuals dying underneath the rubble whereas awaiting rescue.

Matiullah says volunteers have been making an attempt to rescue trapped folks, and noticed two girls being pulled from a destroyed home.

"They obtained them out, injured, and they're now within the hospital," he says. He was not allowed to take photographs of the rescue operation as a result of the Taliban doesn't enable photographs of ladies.

Many residents are actually sleeping out within the open and wish tents, Matiullah provides.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/cc8a/live/f5e6b580-874b-11f0-9a58-57fdbdb13ad4.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Injured Afghan children receive treatment at a hospital after an earthquake in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, on September 1, 2025. A" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photos Injured kids are receiving therapy at a hospital in Jalalabad

One other resident in Kunar's Sokai district, Ezzatullah Safi, says a part of his home collapsed within the earthquake.

"I woke to the screams of kids, girls, and animals," he tells the BBC.

"The earthquake was intense, and the night time felt like a small apocalypse. Robust winds adopted the tremors, with gentle rain falling. My kids clung to me, crying in concern. Mud crammed the air.

"The cell community went down instantly. We could not contact relations. With the home broken and no electrical energy, we relied on the sunshine from our telephones."

He says authorities helicopters arrived within the morning and airlifted the injured from the mountains all the way down to the principle Kunar freeway, the place they have been transferred by automobiles to clinics.

"There is a heavy ambiance of grief right here," Ezzatullah notes.

"[The] electrical energy is out, markets remained closed all day. Some areas are nonetheless unreachable - distant villages 5 to 6 hours away within the mountains."