STORY: Survivors of the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan pleaded for urgent help on Monday (September 1) as Taliban soldiers and residents worked together to carry the injured into helicopters for evacuation.

In Kunar’s Nurgal district, villagers said entire communities were wiped out. “This is Mazar Dara in Nurgal district. The entire village was destroyed,” one victim told reporters. “Children and elders are trapped under the rubble. We need urgent help.”

Authorities confirmed that more than 800 people were killed and thousands more injured across Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces in the magnitude 6.0 quake which struck late on Sunday (August 31), one of the worst such disasters in the country in recent years.

Emergency flights carried the wounded to hospitals in Jalalabad and Kabul, where doctors struggled to cope with the influx of casualties.

On the ground, survivors described scenes of devastation.

“Ninety-five percent of our village has been destroyed. In every house at least five to ten people are injured,” said another resident, urging fellow Muslims to provide aid.

Children and elders were seen inside helicopters receiving food, while others wept amid the ruins of their homes. A young boy cried as residents searched the rubble, hoping to find relatives alive.

“Some of our people are still buried under the soil. We need ambulances, we need doctors, we need everything to rescue the injured and recover the dead,” another survivor said.

Rescuers were battling to reach remote mountainous areas cut off from mobile networks along the Pakistani border, where mudbrick homes dotting the slopes collapsed in the quake.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

'We need urgent help,' pleads Afghanistan earthquake victims

VIDEO SHOWS: EARTHQUAKES VICTIMS BEING TRANSFERRED FROM KUNAR TO NANGARHAR PROVINCE BY MILITARY HELICOPTERS / DESTROYED HOUSES / FOOD SUPPLY DELIVERY TO EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS BY HELICOPTER / SOUNDBITES FROM EARTHQUAKE-AFFECTED RESIDENTS

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: KUNAR, AFGHANISTAN (SEPTEMBER 1, 2025) (TOLO TV - No use Afghanistan)

1. VARIOUS OF TALIBAN SOLDIERS AND RESIDENTS CARRYING INJURED EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS INTO MILITARY HELICOPTER

2. INJURED EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS LYING ON STRETCHER

3. INJURED EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS BEING MOVED INTO HELICOPTER

4. RESIDENTS WALKING BETWEEN DAMAGED HOUSES

5. RESIDENTS CARRYING INJURED PERSON ON BED WALKING OVER RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSES

6. RESIDENTS CLEARING DEBRIS AND STANDING ON RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSES

7. VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS CARRYING INJURED PERSON ON BED WALKING OVER RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSES

8. RESIDENT CLEARING DEBRIS AND STANDING ON RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSES

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) EARTHQUAKE VICTIM, NAME NOT GIVEN, SAYING:

“This is Mazar Dara in Nurgal district. The entire village was destroyed. The quake struck at 12 a.m. local time. Children and elders are trapped under the rubble. We need urgent help. Our children, women, elders and the dead remain buried beneath the debris.”

10. YOUNG BOY CRYING

11. RESIDENTS WALKING OVER RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSES

12. RESIDENTS CLEARING DEBRIS AND STANDING ON RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSES

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) EARTHQUAKE VICTIM, NAME NOT GIVEN, SAYING:

“Ninety-five percent of our village has been destroyed. We have many martyrs and injured. In every house, at least 5 to 10 people are hurt. I urge all Muslims to help us, as all our homes are gone. May God reward any assistance you provide.”

14. RESIDENTS INSIDE HELICOPTER / CHILDREN EATING

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) EARTHQUAKE VICTIM, NAME NOT GIVEN, SAYING:

“This incident happened at 12 a.m. local time. Some of our people are still buried under the soil. We need urgent help to rescue them. We need ambulances, doctors and everything necessary to save the injured and recover the dead.”

NANGARHAR, AFGHANISTAN (SEPTEMBER 1, 2025) (TOLO TV - No use Afghanistan)

16. TALIBAN SOLDIERS AND RESIDENTS LOADING FOOD SUPPLIES INTO HELICOPTER

17. VARIOUS OF TALIBAN SOLDIERS CARRYING INJURED ON STRETCHERS AMD GURNEYS FROM HELICOPTER / HELICOPTER LANDING