A child walks amidst the rubble of damaged houses following an earthquake in Bernal district, Paktika province, on June 23, 2022. (Photo by AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP via Getty Images) GAYAN, Afghanistan - Villagers rushed to bury the dead Thursday and dug by hand through the rubble of their homes in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that killed at least 1,000 people.
The Taliban and the international community that fled their takeover struggled to bring help to the disaster's victims.Under a leaden sky in Paktika province, which was the epicenter of Wednesday's magnitude 6 earthquake, men dug a line of graves in one village, as they tried to lay the dead to rest quickly in line with Muslim tradition.
In one courtyard, bodies lay wrapped in plastic to protect them from the rains that are hampering relief efforts for the living.The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades, and officials said the toll could rise.