Rescue teams are reportedly unable to reach the survivors of the massive earthquake that hit Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday, 26 October due to bad weather and jammed roads.
The death toll of the natural calamity that had its epicentre at Jurm, Afghanistan had as of now hit 370 and damaged thousands of homes.
Médecins sans Frontières, one of many aid agencies working towards the rescue operation has said that its teams are now focusing in reaching to the survivors of the affected regions more than the immediate needs of the same.
"Initial assessments suggest that shelter and hygiene will be most likely the main needs, as it is already snowing in some of the more mountainous areas, and we have stocks of shelter and hygiene kits ready," said Shelagh Woods, the MSF country representative in Pakistan, The Guardian reported.
Survivors have complained that in many affected areas, where houses have been damaged, people are experiencing freezing weather. Several people in Shangla, one of the worst affected regions of the earthquake, are even forced to sit in the rain due to lack of shelter.
Neighbouring country, Pakistan that has also been affected by the earthquake has been providing immense help to Afghanistan. They are airlifting supplies of tents, blankets and even ready-to-eat foods to the survivors from quake hit regions. Furthermore, military teams have also been deployed, who are working to clear landslides from the jammed roads.
"We are extremely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of children, who are already the most at risk in any disaster and are now in danger of succumbing to the elements as temperatures plummet," Karin Hulshof, the regional director of Unicef, said.
Of all problems, the most challenging job for the aid agencies is to reach the survivors from those regions that are both extremely remote and led by Taliban. Although the Islamic fundamentalist group has been ordered to help in the rescue operations and it has agreed to that, aid workers remain conscious.
Reports also suggest that Taliban has captured Darqad district of Afghanistan, one of the areas that the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.5, hit two days before.
The disaster management authority in Pakistan revealed that over 9,000 houses and 133 schools have been damaged in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province due to the earthquake.
On Wednesday, 28 October, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's Prime Minister, announced that its government would grant Rs. 2, 00,000 to help rebuild houses.
"We are going to start the provision of compensation to those whose homes were damaged," he said during a visit to the city of Peshawar.
