PM Shehbaz Sharif expresses grief over loss of precious lives due to earthquake in Afghanistan

Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives due to the earthquake in Afghanistan.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said Pakistan stands with Afghan brothers and sisters in this difficult time.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan will provide all possible assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities concerned to assist the affected people in Afghanistan. 

Earlier today, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 that rocked Afghanistan has killed at least 255 and left scores injured in the country's east, disaster management officials said on Wednesday.

The death toll is likely to rise, media reports said.

The majority of confirmed deaths were in the province of Paktika, where 100 people were killed and 250 injured, said Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, the head of the Taliban administration's disaster management authority.

Deaths were also reported in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Khost, he added, as authorities check for further casualties.

It was felt in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul as well as Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, according to witness accounts posted on the EMSC website and by users on Twitter.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department said the quake jolted parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, however, there was no immediate news of deaths or damage to property.

The state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the death toll and said rescuers were arriving by helicopter.

The news agency's director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble. 

Images widely circulating online from the province showed destroyed stone houses, with residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble.