At least 311 people have died and thousands have been injured in a 7.5-magnitude quake felt across south Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
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At least 237 people were killed in Pakistan, with more than 1,500 injured, while Afghan officials reported 33 dead and more than 200 injured. He mentioned that troops had been mobilized for carrying out relief and rescue operations in the earthquake-affected areas while all the Combined Military Hospitals have been put on high alert.
In Taloqan, a town in the Takhar province in northeastern Afghanistan, 12 schoolgirls died in a stampede while trying to escape from a building, CNN reported, citing local police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir.
Most of the rescue teams were dispatched to the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, one of the worst-hit areas, where 185 people were killed and 2,102 houses were damaged.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Islamabad said: “The United States stands with the nation and people of Pakistan and we are in touch with the National Disaster Management Authority and we are ready to provide assistance if requested”. “And it similarly orders its Mujahideen in the affected areas to lend their complete help to the victims and facilitate those giving charity to the needy”.
130-c-20-(Lynne O’Donnell, AP correspondent)-“do relief drops”-AP correspondent Lynne O’Donnell reports Afghan relief will not begin for another few days as rescuers are struggling to reach the quake-stricken region”. Officials feared the death toll could rise as relief workers reach remote areas.
“The Secretary-General sends his deepest condolences to the people and Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan and to everyone affected, particularly those who have lost family members and friends”.
That quake was much shallower than Monday’s – 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the surface, compared to the depth of 213 kilometers (130 miles) on Monday – and thus caused greater damage, said Mohammad Hanif, an official at the Meteorological Department.
Buildings in the Tajik capital Dushanbe were also damaged by the tremors.
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The initial magnitude 7.5 quake on Monday afternoon was followed by several aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
