India, Sept. 3 -- A massive assistance mission for earthquake survivors continued in Afghanistan on Wednesday as aid teams tackled blocked roads and downed communications lines in a bid to reach the most remote communities still in need of help.

Latest updates from UN assessment teams who reached affected communities in mountainous Ghazi Abad district on foot on Tuesday underscored the urgent need to press on with the humanitarian response.

"The issue of getting people out from under the rubble is urgent," said Salam Al-Jabani from the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, in Kabul. "People are saying what is urgently needed is people to help us bury the dead and get them out."

Preliminary reports from Afghanistan's de facto authorities now indi...