Hopes of finding additional survivors faded a day after a deadly earthquake struck in Paktika province in Afghanistan. The United Nations humanitarian office estimated that 770 people had been killed and 1,440 people injured in the 5.9 magnitude quake, while cautioning that those figures were likely to rise. In Gayan, one of the hardest hit districts in the province, the agency said that 1,500 houses were damaged or destroyed.
These images begin to show the scale of damage and relief efforts, which officials said are winding down, leaving little hope of finding survivors.
Thurs., June 23
A Taliban helicopter taking off after dropping supplies in Gayan, in Paktika province.
Hawa and her daughter Safia, at the hospital in Sharana, in Paktika province. She lost almost her entire family but two of her children.
Afghans stand by the bodies of relatives killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province.
Burying victims in Gayan village.
People warmed themselves at a fire outside after their homes were destroyed by the earthquake.
Residents laid out clothes to dry near the ruins of damaged houses in Bernal district, Paktika province.
Mira was pulled out of the rubbleand taken to a hospital in Sharana. One side of her body was crushed by the rubble and she sustained serious injuries.
Wed. June 22
A photo provided by the state-run news agency Bakhtar shows the destruction caused by the earthquake in Paktika province.
Soldiers and Red Crescent officials responding to the earthquake.
An injured person receiving treatment at a hospital in Paktika Province.
People lined up to donate blood for the earthquake victims being treated at a hospital in Gayan, in Paktika Province.
Evacuating an injured person in Paktika Province.
Searching for survivors in a village in Paktika Province.