Islamabad: At least 280 people have been killed in Afghanistan after a earthquake of magnitude 6.1 shook the country. The toll officials said, was likely to rise as hundreds have been injured.
Officials of the interior ministry, Salahuddin Ayubi, said on Wednesday, that information from remote mountain villages is coming at a slower pace.
According to reports the casualties are mostly from the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, where 255 people had been killed and more than 200 injured.
Ayubi said that in Khost province, 25 people have died and 90 have been hospitalised. “The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details.
“According to US Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred at 1:54am (PST), about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, at a depth of 51 km.
In Pakistan, tremors were felt in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Kohat, Mohmand, Swat, Buner and other parts of Punjab and KP.
