The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recently announced that, according to the latest figures, 2,164 people — including 1,025 women — have died and 3,428 others have been injured as a result of the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.
In a published report, the agency stated that the fatalities include 516 women, 476 men, 509 girls, and 663 boys, while the injured include 1,875 women and 1,553 men.
The report further noted that 5,950 houses have been destroyed and another 1,195 houses damaged by the earthquake.
It added that assessments are still ongoing in four villages, and the death toll could rise.
Previously, officials of the caretaker government had announced that in Kunar alone, 2,205 people were killed and 3,640 were injured by the earthquake. They emphasized that 6,782 houses were also destroyed.
In their initial figures, government officials had also reported that 12 more people were killed in Nangarhar province and dozens of houses were destroyed in Nangarhar, Laghman, Nuristan, and Panjshir provinces.
However, OCHA reported that between 31 August and 4 September, a total of 411 villages were affected by the earthquake. Among them, 71 villages were located in Chapa Dara, Suki, Dara Pech, Nurgal, and Watapur districts of Kunar; Dara Noor and Kuz Kunar districts of Nangarhar; and Alingar district of Laghman.
The agency stressed that, overall, the earthquake has affected 7,147 families — including 46,137 individuals — in eastern Afghanistan.
The report also stated that so far at least 60,872 earthquake-affected people have received food assistance and specialized nutrition support, while safe drinking water has been provided for about 30,000 people.
Furthermore, 1,666 emergency shelter kits, 1,486 emergency shelter repair kits, standard non-food item kits, winter clothing packages, blankets, 2,460 different types of hygiene kits, 3,780 packages, and 460,000 Aqua tablets have been distributed to vulnerable families.
It should be noted that a 6-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghan provinces last Sunday night, with Kunar suffering the highest number of casualties and damage.
