Twin earthquake kills 22 people in Afghanistan
By SUMAYYAH ADEFAKA
No fewer than 22 people died has earthquake rocked western Afghanistan on Monday, destroying hundreds of homes, local authorities said.
The 5.6 magnitude tremor shook the western province of Badghis, bordering Turkmenistan, in the afternoon, reducing brick homes to rubble, according to photos shared by local authorities.
According to the director of Information and Culture of the Badghis provincial administration, Baz Mohammad Sarwari, he said
“The 22 people, include women and children, and four others injured,”
“The Mujahideen have reached to some of the affected areas, but Badghis is a mountainous province, the number of casualties might go up,” he added, referring to Taliban fighters, and adding that heavy rain was also lashing the area.
Mullah Janan Saeqe, head of the Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of State for Emergency Affairs, confirmed the death toll and said more than 700 houses had been damaged.
Sanullah Sabit, the head of the nursing unit at the main hospital in Badghis’ capital said they had received five patients injured in the quake, mostly with broken bones and fractures.
The quake was at a depth of 30 kilometers (about 19 miles), according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center.
