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<a href= http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=336182002
>Afghanistan Earthquake Death Toll Falls Despite Major Aftershock
Thursday, March 28, 2002
By Burt Herman
The Scotsman

Relief efforts to some regions were being hampered by minefields left over from 20 years of conflict, their threat multiplied by concerns that the mines had been shifted by the earthquake.

NAHRIN, Afghanistan -- The Scotsman
A strong aftershock yesterday sent boulders tumbling across mountain roads, blocking efforts to rush relief supplies to tens of thousands of Afghans left homeless by a devastating earthquake.

However, officials said the death toll was in the hundreds, not the thousands originally feared.

The 6.1-magnitude tremor struck nearly 80 villages on Monday in a mountainous region nine miles in radius, affecting 100,000 people either cut off from food supplies or left homeless. But the United Nations said the death toll, at 600 confirmed dead yesterday, was expected finally to tally around 800-1,200.

By Afghan standards, aid reached the quake-stricken Hindu Kush region with remarkable speed -- assisted by US forces in Afghanistan and international peacekeepers.

"We’re here, obviously, for a combat mission, but when this unfortunate accident happened, we were standing by with our coalition partners," said Major Leanne Smullen, who accompanied two US Chinook helicopters from Bagram air base laden with United Nations medical supplies and tents. The crew also evacuated one injured person.

Despite rough, poorly maintained roads and frequent truck breakdowns, 2,000 tents, 10,000 blankets and 1,000 tons of food reached Nahrin, 105 miles north of Kabul, a little more than a day after Monday’s earthquake, a UN spokeswoman, Stephanie Bunker said.
(More: The Scotsman News Source)
2002 © The Scotsman.

Dan