The World Health Organization has said that most of the dead and victims in Herat are women and children.
According to Kabul 24; Dr. Alaa Abuzeid, a representative of the World Organization who traveled to Herat, told Reuters news agency that the earthquake occurred around 11 a.m. [Saturday], when the men left the house.
Therefore, according to him, most of the dead and wounded are women and children who were at home at that time.
He said: “Two-thirds of those who have serious injuries and are hospitalized in the hospitals I saw yesterday are children and women.” He also warns that humanitarian financial operations remain vital, even as the world’s attention and funding turn away from Afghanistan.
Abu Zeid said that it is “devastating” to see the number of children hospitalized in critical conditions. He added: “I have seen a 3-4 month old child who was hit on the head by the earthquake.”
The United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs has requested five million dollars in aid to deal with the earthquake disaster in Herat, but immediate material support has been limited from a few countries.
The representative of the World Health Organization said: “The news was diverted to what is happening in the Middle East in the last two days and very little attention was paid to the crisis in Afghanistan.” A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Zindajan district and a number of other districts of Herat and neighboring provinces on Saturday.
This earthquake was also accompanied by numerous aftershocks, which caused an increase in casualties and damages.
Janan Sayegh, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Disaster Management, says that the number of dead and injured in this earthquake has reached about 4,000 people.
He did not specify the number of dead and wounded.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Disaster Management has added that 20 villages and about 2,000 houses were destroyed due to the earthquake in Herat.
Over the past three days, conflicting statistics of earthquake casualties have been published in Herat.
