The residents said that 600 people, most of them children and women, were killed in the earthquake.

Ghulam Dastageer, 33, lost his wife and child in the earthquake. Dastageer had gone to Iran for work and returned after the earthquake happened.

“Only one of my sons is alive. The other five people in the family have been martyred. I was not here. I came from Iran yesterday and I didn't even make it to the funeral,” he said.

Many residents of the Siah Aab village lost their family members, as did Dastageer.
Abdul Khaliq, a relative of a person who died, expressed his sorrow as: “All people were destroyed except those who were in Iran and out of the village. Only they are alive.”

“We have dug between 250 to 300 graves and are ready to bury the dead,” said Isa Gul, a family member of the victim.
Dozens of people are still working to get the victims out from the ruins. Meanwhile, many world countries pledged to send rescue teams to the site of the incident.

Lack of shelters as well as health and food facilities are the main challenges for the people affected by the earthquake.

This article was first published in Tolo News,  Afghanistan