Night of Horror: 622 Dead as Afghanistan Faces the Deadliest Earthquake in Years 

The death toll from the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday has risen sharply, with the Taliban’s interior ministry reporting at least 622 fatalities and more than 1,500 people injured across the affected provinces until this moment.

According to the ministry’s statement, 610 deaths were recorded in Kunar province and another 12 in Nangarhar. Officials warned that numbers could continue to climb as rescue workers struggle to access remote mountain villages devastated by the quake.

The earthquake struck at 23:47 local time (20:17 BST) at a shallow depth of 8 km, with aftershocks of up to magnitude 5.2 rattling the region throughout the night. Tremors were felt as far away as Kabul and Islamabad, hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter.

Hospitals at Breaking Point

On the ground, hospitals are overwhelmed by the flood of casualties. Dr. Muladad, head of the provincial hospital in Asadabad, Kunar’s capital, told the BBC Afghan Service that his facility admitted one patient every five minutes through the night.

“The whole hospital is full of injured people,” he said. “We ran out of beds, patients are lying on the ground. This is a crisis I never expected.”

Dr. Muladad confirmed that 188 patients, including women and children, had been brought to his hospital in just a few hours. Four bodies were also received, while dozens more were sent to smaller local clinics. In neighboring Nangarhar province, nearly 250 injured people have been treated at the main hospital.

Rescue and Aid Challenges

The remote terrain of eastern Afghanistan, combined with limited infrastructure and restricted access for international aid agencies, makes rescue efforts especially difficult. The Taliban’s figures could still change as more areas are reached and assessments continue.

Afghanistan is among the world’s most disaster-prone nations, with fragile housing and a healthcare system already under severe strain. The earthquake has now pushed those systems into emergency mode, leaving survivors fearful of more aftershocks as they await aid.

This is a developing story