Jodhpur (PTI): A household which was preparing for the wedding festivities of their two daughters was plunged into sadness when the sisters died the same day in Jodhpur's Manai village, with officials saying both women allegedly consumed a poisonous substance.

Shobha (25) and Vimla (23) were set to be married on Saturday, and the preparations for their weddings were in full swing on Friday night, when the incident occurred.

Upon finding the sisters, family members rushed the sisters to a private hospital in Jodhpur, where doctors declared both women dead.

ADCP (West) Roshan Meena said the wedding celebrations at their home continued until late Friday night. Around midnight, both brides went to sleep.

"At about 4 am, their health suddenly deteriorated, prompting family members to take them to a private hospital. They were declared dead on arrival, and their bodies were brought back home, where funeral preparations began," he stated.

When police received this information, they arrived at the scene and halted the funeral arrangements. The bodies were sent to the mortuary for a post-mortem examination and were later returned to the family, officials said.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the sisters may have died after consuming a poisonous substance; however, the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the post-mortem report is completed.

So far, no suicide note has been recovered from the scene.

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Kabul (AP): An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 rattled parts of northern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan late Friday, killing at least eight people in Afghanistan, authorities said.

The region is highly seismically active, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years. Friday's earthquake had an epicentre in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of the Afghan city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the US Geological Survey.

Hafizullah Basharat, a spokesman for the Kabul governor, said eight people were killed and a child was injured when a house collapsed on the outskirts of the capital. He said all were members of the same family.

Kabul is roughly 290 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of the epicentre. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from areas closer to the epicentre. The area is remote, and it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul.

With the epicentre at a depth of over 180 kilometers, the quake jolted a wide swath of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, it was felt in the cities and towns of Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in Pakistan.

Afghanistan's Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said Kabul and provincial health authorities had been put on alert.

Last August, a 6.0 earthquake that struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people, levelling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.

In November, a 6.3 earthquake struck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan's famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.

On Oct 7, 2023, a 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.

Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Many homes in rural and outlying areas are made from mud bricks and wood, with many poorly built.