SIAH AB (Afghanistan) — A mass funeral ceremony for around 300 earthquake victims was held on Monday (Oct 9) in rural western Afghanistan, as families remained trapped in the rubble of their ruined homes two days after high-magnitude tremors killed more than 2,000 people.
Afghans mourn during a mass funeral for the people killed in a series of earthquakes in the Zendeh Jan district of Herat province on Oct 9, 2023.
In nearby Nayeb Rafi — once home to some 2,000 families — there were no buildings left standing, only undulating piles of broken mud bricks which were once ceilings and walls. "One family had twenty members buried in the rubble," he said, adding that only two members of the family survived because they happened to be out of the home.
As winter draws in, providing shelter for residents will be a major challenge for Afghanistan's Taliban government, which seized power in August 2021 and has fractious relations with international aid organisations.Taliban authorities have banned women from working for UN and non-governmental organisations in the country, making it difficult to assess family needs in deeply conservative parts of the country.
Most rural homes in Afghanistan are made of mud, built around wooden support poles, with little in the way of modern steel reinforcement.
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