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Added on the 23/06/2022 06:48:07 - Copyright : Euronews EN
The death toll from an earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday hit 1,000, disaster management officials said, with more than 600 injured and the toll expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages. FRANCE 24's Shazaib Wallah tells us more.
A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing at least 1,000 people and injuring hundreds more, officials said Wednesday, with the toll expected to rise as desperate rescuers dig through collapsed dwellings.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated in the Spanish regions of Valencia (south-east) and Aragon (north-east) where forest fires have already burnt some 900 hectares, according to local authorities. Four hundred firefighters, rescue workers and military personnel, fifteen planes, seaplanes and helicopters worked to extinguish the flames, according to the Valencia rescue service. A nearby field hospital was set up and the Red Cross opened a reception centre for evacuees in a gymnasium in the town of Segorbe. Spain was hit last summer by some 500 fires that burned over 300,000 hectares of land, making it the most affected European country, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. IMAGES
The United Nations has launched a fund drive for the more than 5 million directly impacted by last week's earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The world body calling for donors to deliver one billion dollars. The appeal coming as Nato's secretary general prepared to tour quake-stricken areas of southern Turkey. FRANCE 24's Catherine Viette tells us more.
More than 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Turkey alone, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels, said Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay. They huddled in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community centers, while others spent the night outside in blankets gathering around fires. Many took to social media to plead for assistance for loved ones believed to be trapped under the rubble — and Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying all calls were being “collected meticulously” and the information relayed to search teams. FRANCE 24's correspondent in Kahramanmara in Turkey Nadia Massih reports.