An earthquake kills hundreds in Afghanistan
The devastated country is ill-equipped to mount a rescue effort
Afghans were already being tormented by hunger, poverty and the aftermath of war when, in the early hours of June 22nd, disaster struck once more. A 5.9-magnitude earthquake centred in the south-eastern province of Khost, on the border with Pakistan, destroyed homes and triggered landslides in Khost and neighbouring Paktika as people slept. When dawn broke, pictures showed villages reduced to rubble or demolished by torrents of shifting earth. Residents sifted through piles of crumbled masonry and began digging graves.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Another disaster”
From the June 25th 2022 edition
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