EARTHQUAKE IN ASIA: PREMIÈRE URGENCE INTERNATIONALE MEDICAL TEAMS READY TO ACT
On the morning of Monday 26th October, Afghanistan was hit by a massive earthquake. On the same day, Première Urgence Internationale teams in the country were mobilised and provided assistance to victims of the disaster.
By the middle of the afternoon on the day of the earthquake, more than 80 people had already received care from the various health facilities managed by Première Urgence Internationale in Kunar province. A number of patients suffering from severe traumatic injuries, caused in particular by the collapse of buildings, were transported to the hospital in Asadabad to receive more advanced medical care.
In total, our teams took care of 119 casualties. Initial on-site reports indicated that more than 3,500 units of housing had been destroyed in Kunar province. The day after the earthquake, Liam Kelly, Co-ordinator of the eastern zone for Première Urgence Internationale in Afghanistan, explained: “The situation seems to have stabilised today. We can still feel the aftershocks of the earthquake, but there aren’t as many of them as there were yesterday. We hope that all of that is finished, but we will remain on site and will continue to receive patients for as long as we need to.”
