First rescue teams reach quake area
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Red Cross plane packed with emergency medical and water sanitation supplies managed to land yesterday near the site of the earthquake which hit Afghanistan last week.
The massive earthquake, which killed between 2,000 and 4,000 villagers in the mountainous Takhar province, struck last Wednesday night. Hundreds of bodies remain to be dug out from under landslides and collapsed mud huts. There may still be survivors buried in the rubble. Fifteen thousand families are said to have been made homeless. But only now are the first foreign rescue teams arriving in the area.
Many people died in their beds as their houses collapsed and many others were swept away in landslides. So remote is this part of the country that word of the disaster reached Kabul, 200 miles to the south, 48 hours later. Aid agencies have been struggling to reach the place ever since.
The problems are numerous. There have been a number of powerful aftershocks. Afghanistan's Taliban government which is at war with the anti-Taliban alliance in the north-east of the country is said to have bombed Rustaq, capital of Takhar province, in recent days. The Taliban have been slow to permit planes to fly to the region from Kabul. The region is in the grip of winter: the cold will have maximised casualties and makes landing on primitive air strips hazardous or impossible. Another Red Cross plane flying to the region yesterday was forced to turn back because of bad weather.
The other route into the region is across the Tajikistan border to north, but the border guards have so far refused to admit rescue teams.
Uncertainty surrounds the number of casualties left by the quake. Afghanistan's Red Crescent released a preliminary figure of 2,150 dead.
Two doctors from Medecins Sans Frontieres, who were the first foreigners on the scene when they arrived on Saturday, said they had already treated 400 casualties and that deaths greatly exceeded injuries because the disaster had occurred at night.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments