‘Many never woke up’: Quake-hit Afghanistan’s villagers recount destruction

Andarlachak (Kunar), Afghanistan – Habib-ur Rahman led a elemental beingness arsenic a husbandman successful Loya Banda village, a fewer hours’ locomotion from the campy wherever helium sought refuge successful Diwa Gul vale successful Chawkay territory of eastbound Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

The magnitude 6 earthquake, which struck the portion connected the nighttime of August 31, was dissimilar immoderate helium had lived done before.

“In the past, erstwhile determination was an earthquake, we had clip to prevention ourselves. This clip around, the shingle was precise almighty and truthful abrupt that radical didn’t adjacent person the clip to aftermath up from sleep. Those who woke up were either injured oregon stuck nether the rubble. But galore ne'er woke up astatine all,” Rahman told Al Jazeera.

The picturesque valley, located immoderate 30km (12 miles) from Kunar’s capital, Asadabad, is dotted with camps lodging displaced radical and shade villages with homes destroyed truthful severely they are uninhabitable. Authorities accidental astir 2,200 radical were killed and much than 5,000 homes destroyed by the earthquake successful eastbound Afghanistan, astir of them successful Kunar.

The United Nations says fractional a cardinal radical person been affected. Local authorities accidental they person distributed much than 780 tents on the full Diwa Gul vale truthful far.

The colony adjacent to the campy wherever Rahman recovered information was location to immoderate 200 families. Many of the houses are inactive standing, but authorities person called connected radical to determination to the camps for their information arsenic aftershocks proceed to stone the vale much than 10 days aft the earthquake hit, and could origin further damage.

Farm animals roam the constrictive alleys of Andarlachak, with villagers walking distant from the campy lone to springiness them h2o and provender them. For astir radical successful the valley, the tiny plots of onshore and the animals are their lone fortune.

“We are each conscionable elemental farmers successful this valley, with a spot of onshore and a fewer animals. But we had a bully beingness and everything we needed. Now we person mislaid everything,” said Rahman.