Afghanistan quake: Journalist roasted for saying he will help orphaned baby later

IN a natural disaster that doesn’t have much parallel, Afghanistan has seen at least 1,000 people dying and 1,500 others getting injured. An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude in Paktika province destroyed more than 3,000 houses and left several thousands, who are already coping with political and economic difficulties, in utter distress. The death toll was expected to rise more.

The social media was flooded with news and pictures from Afghanistan, which was devastated by the quake.

Among them was a picture of a little girl who was found standing in front of a damaged house. An Afghan journalist posted her picture and said she was perhaps the only surviving member of her family. He also said that the child looked like a three-year-old. She was standing facing the camera with her face covered in mud and dirt.

“This little child is probably the only remaining alive member of her family. Locals say they couldn’t find any alive member of her family. She looks like a 3 years old baby,” tweeted Sayed Ziarmal Hashemi.

In another post in the same thread, he said, “Many people requested for donations and help. We are looking forward to find and create a way to help her and many other victims.

Twitterati slams journalist for saying help will reach the toddler later

A page was also set up on GoFundMe to help the victims of the earthquake. Posting about it, Hashemi said, “For now, we have created a way of donating to victims. We will focus to find and help her later.”

The girl’s news got a lot of response with many wanting to adopt her.

However, there were also others who were upset with Hashemi’s remark that they would find and help the toddler later. One user said she needed help immediately and called the baby a “fundraising tool”.

Another user also slammed the journalist saying why he was waiting to help her later after taking her picture. To this, another user said Hashemi did not take her picture but took it from another tweet.