A helicopter landed in Afghanistan’s remote Paktika province on Wednesday (June 22) to carry some people who were injured by an earthquake which has killed at least 280 people.
The 6.1 magnitude quake has injured hundreds more and authorities have said the toll was likely to rise as information trickled in from remote mountain villages.
The quake struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGC) said.
Video from the area showed homes reduced to rubble.
Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, where 255 people had been killed and more than 200 injured, said interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi.
In Khost province, 25 people had been killed and 90 taken to hospital, he said.
Shaking was felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the EMSC said on Twitter.
(Reuters)
