It was 1.30am on Wednesday when Mohammad Noor was woken by the earth shaking around him, possessions smashing to the floor.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake that would kill more than 1,000 people in the eastern Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktika had struck.
“I grabbed my two children and screamed at my wife to run. Luckily, we were able to leave the house before it partially collapsed,” he said.
Other members of his family were not so lucky; an uncle and three cousins died when the roof of their house collapsed as they slept, and two cousins remain missing.
“I hope they are alive somewhere,” Mr Noor told The National.
But as the hours pass, the hope of finding them alive seems to be ebbing away.
Clinging to hope, Mr Noor and other Afghans continue to clear the rubble and search for survivors. Aid from the Taliban who took over the country in August last year, or the international community is slow to arrive.
The remoteness of the provinces, lack of infrastructure and difficult weather aren’t helping matters.
“Since yesterday, we have rescued three families, including children and women. We have also found at least 15 bodies so far,” Mr Noor said.
“It is chaotic and there isn’t enough help or support,”
Most of the homes that collapsed, Mr Noor said, were made of mud and other lower-quality materials, meaning that they were more easily damage and that casualties were higher.
“We are poor people and a lot of us can’t afford to build homes from solid bricks — a lot of these houses were made of poor-quality materials,” he explained.
It means for some, they have lost their entire families and the roof over their heads. Mr Noor said one child who he pulled out from under the rubble was the only survivor from a family of eight.
“He is 4 years old and he has lost seven members of his family, including his parents and siblings. He is in shock and doesn’t know anything. A village elder has taken him to his house for now,” he said.
Volunteer rescuers are working to the limits of endurance. Dr Hasan Rahman, 29, said he had barely slept or eaten in the 48 hours since the earthquake, which was followed by a powerful aftershock on Friday.
“Everywhere I dig, I find a body. I lost count; children, men, women, young and old,” he said.
“This morning we pulled a pregnant woman from the debris. She must’ve been seven or eight months pregnant. She died but I don’t know if her baby survived. We rushed her to the clinic and I haven’t heard back yet,” he said.
Co-ordinating rescues in such remote areas is difficult, Dr Rahman said.
“We are helping in a very remote area and there is hardly any mobile signal here. Most of the time we are coordinating using the Taliban’s walkie-talkie.”
As the second day after the quake drew to a close, some medical assistance had begun to trickle in, but it is nowhere near enough for the estimated 1,000 injured.
“We are facing shortage of staff, medicines and basic first aid such as bandage, gauze, cotton and serums,” Dr Rahman said, appealing to the international community to send supplies to Afghanistan.
The UAE has sent a medical team and field hospital, plus food, medical supplies and other aid, after President Sheikh Mohamed ordered that an air bridge be established.
While many international agencies and countries, including the US, have offered support to victims of the earthquake, the flow of aid to Afghanistan has slowed since last summer, making it harder to respond to emergencies.
International sanctions following the collapse of the Afghan government and Taliban takeover last August has economically weaken the aid-dependent country and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Mr Noor said that while he had heard of international aid arriving in Afghanistan, little had yet reached his village in Gayan district.
“So far, I have only seen the Red Crescent teams in Gayan who are helping rescue people along with a very small number of Taliban forces,” he shared.
“There are villages in more remote areas that the rescue teams haven’t even been able to go to,” he said, adding that people from those parts were appealing for help from them.
“But our resources are very limited, and there isn’t enough manpower.
“Today some help and resources have arrived from Kabul and other provinces.
“But we need a lot more helping hands. We need doctors, medical supplies, food, water and some machinery so we can dig the ground and find other bodies, and perhaps even survivors,” Mr Noor said.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (Turf) 1,400m. Winner: Al Ajeeb W’Rsan, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Jaci Wickham (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,400m racing. Winner: Mujeeb, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 90,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Onward, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown Prep Rated Conditions (PA) Dh 125,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: AF Arrab, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 90,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Irish Freedom, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
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The Cockroach
(Vintage)
Ian McEwan
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
