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Death toll from Afghan quakes expected to rise to three thousand

Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai has declared a national day of mourning in response to an earhtquake which has killed about three-thousand people in the north of the country.

The severe earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richer scale hit Monday night and a series of aftershocks measuring up to 5.2 have flattened villages in the remote farming district in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains.

About 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 20,000 people have been left without shelter after the collapse of most of the provincial town of Nahrin and surrounding villages.

Jonathan Harley reports.

Blankets, tents and medicine are heading to the town of Nahrin and about 30 surrounding villages devastated by Monday's quake which hit the northern province of Baghlan. Heavy aftershocks are still being felt - hampering relief efforts and stopping terrified survivors from returning to their homes. Some bodies have been buried in mass graves to prevent the spread of disease. While the aid effort is gaining momentum - it's still a trickle compared to the huge needs of the devastated remote, mountainous area

28/03/2002 12:31:17 | ABC Radio Australia News

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