At least 2,400 people – most of them women and children – have died since the powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Saturday. The earthquake hit areas located 30 kilometers northwest of the city of Herat, in the western part of the country, where rescue teams are searching for survivors in the ruins of hundreds of collapsed houses.

A shocking video circulating in the last few hours on the internet shows the moment when rescuers find a baby in bad condition but alive.

The few-month-old baby girl is lying on her back, with tons of rubble, dust, dirt and stones covering her and literally burying her.

With careful movements, the people who found him remove the dirt and stones from his face, eyes and mouth, while the baby can hardly breathe – but he is alive.

Next to him is his dead mother, who was holding him at the time of the earthquake. Rescuers are seen lifting the woman’s lifeless arm to free the little girl…

In June 2022, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake, the deadliest to hit Afghanistan in 25 years, killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands homeless in impoverished Paktika province. in southeastern Afghanistan.

The latest disaster comes as Afghanistan is already suffering a severe humanitarian crisis after most foreign aid was cut off after the Taliban return to power in 2021.

Herat province, home to about 1.9 million people, according to World Bank figures, has also been hit by a years-long drought that has crippled many already struggling rural communities.