Pupils crushed in earthquake stampede
Girls killed under feet of classmates during tremor that claimed 260 lives in Afghanistan and Pakistan
TWELVE Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede of terrified pupils fleeing their school as a massive earthquake killed at least 261 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The number of victims was expected to rise significantly by the morning as aid workers struggle to reach its epicentre in a remote region in the Hindu Kush mountain range of north-eastern Afghanistan.
The shockwaves of the 7.5-magnitude tremor reached as far away as New Delhi, the Indian capital.
At least 228 people were killed in Pakistan, with more than 1,000 injured, while Afghan officials reported 33 dead and more than 200 injured. Authorities in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region reported two deaths.
The earthquake occurred in a sparsely populated region and at an estimated depth of 130 miles, potentially limiting the number of casualties. It struck six months after Nepal was devastated by the worst earthquake in its recorded history, the latest such disaster to strike south Asia after intensified seismic activity.
One of the gravest incidents occurred at a school in the Afghan province of Takhar. As panicked pupils rushed out of the building amid falling rubble, at least 12 girls were crushed to death under the feet of classmates, with 42 more injured, several critically.
As darkness fell, the heaviest number of casualties was recorded in neighbouring Pakistan.
Thousands fled buildings and stood in streets as structures shook and the ground jarred beneath them.
In the Afghan capital Kabul, power was lost as the tremor struck. One survivor, Haji Ehsan, was in the Baharestan neighbourhood of Kabul when the one-minute earthquake struck.
“It was very scary. Everyone immediately ran outside, from their houses, from their stores,” he told
“We’re just lucky it passed quickly. The ground shook so much I couldn’t believe it, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
Telecommunications were disrupted in large parts of the country, preventing officials from gathering more accurate details of damage and casualties. There were also warning of aftershocks. “Initial reports show a big loss of life, huge financial losses in Badakhshan, Takhar, Nangarhar, Kunar and other regions, including the capital Kabul,” said Abdullah Abdullah, the country’s chief executive.
In Pakistan, Gen Raheel Sharif, the army chief, ordered the deployment of troops to the affected areas.
For many Pakistanis in the country’s north west, the powerful tremor brought fears of a repeat of the 7.6-magnitude earthquake 10 years ago that killed more than 75,00 people, although on that occasion the epicentre was much shallower. Dr Muhammad Sadiq, the head of emergency services at a government hospital in Peshawar, said last night that the injured were still being brought in. “Many are still under rubble,” he said.
The Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the boundary of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, has been increasingly quake-prone in recent years.
Rescue efforts by international aid groups could be hindered by the presence in the region of Taliban-led insurgents, who have used its remote valleys as cover to seize districts as they spread across the country.