(ReliableNews.org) – October 6 was a terrible day in the Middle East. Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and killed hundreds of people. A conflict is currently going on there. Then earthquakes hit Afghanistan. The death toll from the natural disaster is in the thousands.
The quakes hit western Afghanistan, about 20 miles northwest of Herat. One of the earthquakes was 6.3 magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey. Initially, the death toll was about 500. However, authorities quickly realized the disaster was much larger than they thought.
Afghan Ministry of Disasters spokesperson Janan Sayeeq told Reuters that at least 2,445 people were dead and over 2,000 suffered injuries. Almost 2,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, including several villages in the country that were totally destroyed.
Muhammad Talib Shahid, a health official, told the press that the medical system was on the brink of collapsing as the country’s resources were pushed to the limits. International aid workers with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations sent emergency tents, medicine, and clothing. However, on Sunday, the amount of outside aid was still limited.
According to reports, most of the deaths occurred in villages about 25 miles away from the center of Herat, which is one of the country’s most populous cities. It’s also not a place that gets a lot of earthquakes. When the natural disaster struck, residents scrambled to put together a response. The damage was the most significant near the Iranian border, with the epicenter of the damage in the districts of Ghurian and Zinda Jan.
Local residents helped dig people out of the rubble with their bare hands, desperately hoping to find survivors but often coming across heartbreaking scenes. Ghulam Mehboob, a 32-year-old volunteer, said he dug out dozens of bodies but didn’t find any survivors. Finally, he gave up hope of finding anyone alive and traveled back home to Herat.
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