South Asia: 'Over 100 dead' following magnitude 7.5 earthquake

Scores of people have been killed after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake rocked Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The ‘quake struck shortly after 9am GMT, near the mountainous Hindu Kush region of northern Afghanistan. Reports suggest more than 100 people have died as a result. At least 100 dead after strong quake hits Afghanistan, Pakistan: https://t.co/7kcL2WEzdR pic.twitter.com/Ck476lQULT— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 26, 2015 Buildings were evacuated in the capitals of the three countries most-severely affected. Communications were down in some regions, meaning the death toll could be higher than originally reported. Mukhtar Ahmed works for the Indian government.“It was a huge tremor,” he said. “We were terrified and came running out of the buildings. The buildings started shaking and we were terrified and felt that the building would sink and it would fall down and that’s why all the employees came down and are waiting here. We were really scared.” Reports from Pakistan said the quake was felt across the country. In Islamabad buildings shook and people poured into the streets in a panic, many reciting verses from the Quran. According to a military statement, Pakistan’s army chief ordered troops to the areas affected by the quake. In Afghanistan a frenzied evacuation at a girls’ school ended in tragedy for at least twelve students, who were reportedly trampled under the feet of others trying to escape the building. Photos (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));These photos of the earthquake in Afghanistan have just been sent by our Persian audience. At least 17 people have been...Posted by euronews on Monday, 26 October 2015 #Earthquake epicenter is in the far northern Afghan province of Badakhshan: https://t.co/jYYJ0w7cWa pic.twitter.com/6zGsrdPpRS— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 26, 2015