1,800 Afghans Killed in Series of Earthquakes

Afghanistan was in the grip of a fresh humanitarian crisis last night after a series of earthquakes ripped across a remote part of the Hindu Kush mountains, killing at least 1,800 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Last night rescuers were trying to reach the small northern town of Nahrin, where hundreds of people were entombed when the earthquake first struck on Monday evening. The relief operation was hampered by aftershocks - some as high as five on the Richter scale - that continued into yesterday afternoon.

"It's still going on," a spokesman for Afghanistan's interim authority said. "We have sent in helicopters and some people to try to rescue survivors. Nobody really knows how many people are dead."

The Afghan defence ministry said 600 bodies had been recovered. "I can say that 90% of Nahrin has been destroyed," spokesman Mira Jan added.

The few rescuers who managed to reach Nahrin last night painted a picture of devastation. The district capital of mainly mud houses, 100 miles north of Kabul and three to four hours' drive from the nearest large town, Pul-i-Khumri, had been flattened. Almost everyone living in the densely populated old quarter to the east of Nahrin's dusty centre had been killed.

By late afternoon yesterday about 400 dead had been wrapped in white cotton shrouds and buried in and around Nahrin, some in mass graves. About 200 injured were taken to Pul-i-Khumri and Baghlan by helicopter, bus and truck, while 70 people were treated in Nahrin.

But officials admitted there were too few helicopters to rescue all the injured. Many roads were blocked by rubble.

The quake also pulverised at least 14 surrounding villages. Homeless survivors were pouring into Nahrin from remote areas seeking medical treatment - or fabric to bury relatives. They were camping out in freezing conditions.

"There is no hospital. There is no doctor to help these people," Shoja Zare, a spokesman for the French charity Acted, said.

Monday's earthquake had its epicentre in the eastern part of Afghanistan's mountainous Baghlan province. It measured a relatively modest 5.9 on the Richter scale but caused extensive devastation because it was "shallow" and took place just 40 miles underground, US geologists said.

The quake struck at 7.26pm local time. Tremors were felt in Kabul and as far away as Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

Last night a team from the British-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) based in Kabul was assisting with the rescue operation. Colonel Neal Peckham, Isaf's spokesman, said the Afghan government had asked the peacekeeping force to send reconnaissance teams to the earthquake area. The United Nations, aid agencies and the International Committee for the Red Cross said teams were on their way from the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and from Pul-i-Khumri to assess the damage. They were taking hundreds of tents and blankets with them. The UN was also preparing to transport 158 tonnes of food.

Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai cancelled a planned trip to Turkey and held an emergency cabinet meeting. His interior minister Yunus Qanuni claimed that 1,800 bodies had already been recovered, with 3,000 injured and 30,000 homeless.