The death toll from strong earthquakes in western Afghanistan that struck the region on Saturday rose to more than 2,000, according to the Taliban.
The death toll from strong earthquakes in western Afghanistan, one of the deadliest earthquakes to shake the country in two decades, has risen to more than 2,000, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday.
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake followed by strong aftershocks killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan on Saturday, according to the country’s national disaster authority.
However, Ministry of Information and Culture spokesman Abdul Wahid Rayan says per another source the death toll from the earthquake in Herat is higher than originally reported. About six villages were destroyed, and hundreds of civilians have been trapped under the debris.
The United Nations provided a preliminary figure late Saturday that 320 people were dead, but it later said the figure was still being verified. Local authorities estimated that 100 people were killed and 500 were injured, according to the same update from the U.
