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The magnitude six quake has already left more than 800 dead and at least 2,000 injured, but the total impact could be in the \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d, according to the UN\u2019s top aid official in the country, Indrika Ratwatte.<\/p>\n
Speaking from Kabul, Mr. Ratwatte said that mud and wooden roof structures were predominant in the affected mountainous provinces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the walls collapse, the roof is what basically falls on individuals, kills them or suffocates them,\u201d<\/strong> he said. \u201cSince this happened in the night, everybody was sleeping,\u201d the senior UN aid official explained, indicating that many more people may be trapped under the debris.<\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands could be impacted, \u201cas in houses destroyed, injured, casualties, livestock lost and any livelihood systems that they had\u201d, Mr. Ratwatte explained.<\/p>\n In the first critical 24 hours after the earthquake hit, access was \u201cvery limited\u201d, owing to landslides and rockfalls triggered by the tremors.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has posed a huge challenge to us as we deploy right now,\u201d Mr. Ratwatte said, stressing that 20 emergency assessment teams have been mobilized alongside 15 mobile teams \u201cwhich will enhance the humanitarian flights from Kabul to Jalalabad\u201d, capital of the affected Nangarhar province.<\/p>\n The UN Humanitarian Air Service has scheduled additional flights connecting Kabul and Jalalabad for personnel and cargo to scale up the response.<\/p>\n The aid official also said that the UN and others are trying to set up or repair damaged mobile networks as there is \u201czero connectivity\u201d with some affected communities, \u201cand even to bring in helicopters and land,\u201d another challenge for the de facto authorities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to get to these areas and keep shuttling injured individuals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Ratwatte underscored the importance of protection work, \u201cincluding psychosocial support for individuals who lost family and loved ones\u201d. He also stressed that it was urgent to dispose of bodies and dead livestock to prevent waterborne diseases, \u201cwhich can happen very, very fast\u201d.<\/p>\n One of the first responders in the affected areas was the Afghan Red Crescent. Joy Singhal, Acting Head of Delegation for Afghanistan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that more people could have been saved if road access were easier.<\/p>\n \u201cOur staff and volunteers sometimes have to [walk] for about four to five hours to reach some of those remote villages,\u201d he said. Once they reach their destination \u201cthey have to walk back and bring those affected and wounded people into the city centre\u2026the two hospitals there are overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n Afghanistan has long faced what the UN\u2019s Humanitarian Coordinator Mr. Ratwatte called \u201csystemic humanitarian challenges\u201d. Half of its population – or some 22.5 million people – need assistance, while food insecurity has been aggravated by recent drought. Sweeping funding cuts to humanitarian programmes since the beginning of the year have meant that \u201chundreds\u201d of aid facilities have had to close.<\/p>\n \u201cThe earthquake comes at a time where vulnerable communities are going to be super-exposed to additional stresses,\u201d Mr. Ratwatte said.<\/p>\n Another major challenge is the return in 2025 of 2.4 million Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan, whom communities in the country have been \u201cstruggling to integrate\u201d, said UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than half of these are deportations, people who have been put on buses and other forms of transport and left at the borders to go home, and it has already put a further restraint on our ability to support,\u201d Mr. Baloch said.<\/p>\n He also stressed that the majority of returnees are heading precisely to the earthquake-affected areas. In another \u201cworrying\u201d development, Sunday marked \u201cthe end of grace period for registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan\u201d and UNHCR is preparing for \u201csignificantly more returns\u201d in the coming days.<\/p>\n \u201cThese people already with very little resources are now returned to a disaster zone,\u201d Mr. Baloch said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are at breaking point in terms of response to the multiple humanitarian shocks in the country,\u201d the UN\u2019s Mr. Ratwatte insisted.<\/p>\n The $2.4 billion humanitarian response plan for Afghanistan for 2025 is only 28 per cent funded, \u201cand here we have an emergency on top of the crisis situation\u201d, he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMassive loss of homes, livestock<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Disease danger<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Disaster, time after time<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Deported regardless\u00a0<\/h2>\n