By Matters India Reporter
Vatican City, June 22, 2022: Pope Francis on June 22 he was praying for the victims of an earthquake that struck Afghanistan earlier in the day.
As many as 1,000 people were reportedly killed when the 6.1 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan. Another 1500 people are likely to be injured according to state-run Bakhtar News Agency.
The quake struck about 44 km from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Afghan officials have warned that the death toll could rise further.
Speaking during the Wednesday General Audience, the Pope expressed his closeness to all those affected by the quake that, he said, “has claimed lives and caused extensive damage in Afghanistan.”
“And I especially pray for those who lost their lives and their families,” reported vaticannews.va, the Vatican news agency.
“I hope that with everyone’s help,” he continued, “we can alleviate the suffering of the dear people of Afghanistan.”
The earthquake was the most deadly to strike the country in decades.
The quake struck a rural, mountainous region, but information remains scarce on the damages in Khost and Paktika provinces.
Observers said rescue efforts are likely to be complicated since many international aid agencies left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country last year.
Experts said such temblors can cause severe damage, particularly in such an area where homes and other buildings are poorly constructed and landslides are common.
Footage from Paktika province showed people being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area. Others were treated on the ground. But dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.
A deputy spokesman for the country’s Taliban government gave no specific death toll but tweeted that hundreds of people were killed and injured in the earthquake. “We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe,” he wrote.
Most confirmed deaths were in Paktika province, where 255 people had been killed and more than 200 injured, said interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi. In Khost province, 25 people had been killed and 90 taken to hospital, he said.
The Bakhtar news agency’s director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan tweeted that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.
The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake’s tremors were felt over 500 km by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.