25,000 Afghan Children Live In Tents After Earthquake: Report

KABUL, Feb 26 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Approximately 25,000 children in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province remain housed in makeshift tents six months after a catastrophic earthquake ravaged the region, according to international aid organisation Save the Children on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

"Families rely on traditional wood or coal-burning heaters for warmth inside the tarpaulin tents, creating a fire risk. Reconstruction of homes in the mountainous region has barely begun, with the level of destruction in some villages so extensive that they will never be rebuilt," said the report.

The earthquake also severely impacted education infrastructure, completely or partially destroying more than half of nearly 1,300 classrooms assessed.

Before the quake, nearly 50,000 primary school-aged children were already out of school in Kunar, the province hardest hit by the disaster, according to the aid agency's report.

A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on Aug. 31 last year, wreaking havoc primarily in Kunar province and marking one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country's recent history. 

--BERNAMA-XINHUA