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CNN Live Today

Thousands Feared Dead After Afghan Quake

Aired March 26, 2002 - 14:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As if they needed more misery in Afghanistan, hundreds if not thousands of men, women, and children now feared dead after some devastating earthquakes and aftershocks. This Baghlan province, northern Afghanistan, the epicenter is in the Hindu Kush mountains north of Kabul, about 100 miles. That rugged terrain only one of the many factors now complicating search and recovery efforts. Walter Rodgers, the latest now on the ground from the Afghan capital of Kabul.

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WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They may not be an accurate death toll in these Afghan earthquakes for several days, at least until relief workers are able to sift through the rubble, and that has scarcely begun at this point. Still, Afghan officials estimate that the final fatality count will go in the thousands, perhaps as high as 4,000 by one estimate earlier in the day.

But again, the government appears to be very disorganized. Recall, this is a government which has only be on its feet for three months now, and is totally ill equipped, at this point, to actually conduct a major rescue operation in a disaster of this proportion.

Fortunately, there are United Nations aid agencies in the Afghanistan area. They are speeding supplies to the area. A U.N. helicopter conducted a survey of the epicenter of the quake in the Baghlan province. Also, we should point out that the provincial capital of Nahrin was completely flattened, according to officials here in Kabul, and 15 villages destroyed, as many as 30,000 people are said to be homeless.

That is very serious at this time of the year in northern Afghanistan where the epicenter of the quake was. Of course, that means very cold nights, people badly in need of tents, and blankets, and the normal supplies that they will not have because they've been driven from their homes.

The magnitude of the quakes were -- one was about 6.0, the other about 5.0, and, of course, there were many aftershocks thereafter. This is a very high earthquake-prone area. In 1998, this very same province was hit and 7,000 people were killed in an earthquake then.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Kabul.

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