KABUL (Reuters) - Aid workers said that up to 3,000 people had been killed by the second major earthquake in northern Afghanistan since February. They said some 50 villages had been destroyed by the quake on Saturday, which measured up to 7.1 on the Richter scale. „Now we have confirmed information from our colleagues and other aid workers in Takhar that 3,000 people have died in the quake,“ Chris Teirlinck of relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres told Reuters from the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. It was thought to be the first reliable assessment of the scale of devastation. Other aid agencies said they were initially sceptical of claims by the anti-Taleban opposition, which controls much of the region, of up to 5,000 dead. The United Nations said that a U.N. team was on its way to assess damage to the three worst- affected areas — Shar-i-Buzurg, Rustaq and Chah-ab. Rustaq bore the brunt of February‘s quake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, in which 14 villages were demolished and at least 4,000 people were killed. „It takes five days to reach Shar-i-Buzurg from the nearest town, Faizabad, by horse or donkey. There are no roads linking the region to the outside world,“ the U.N. said in a statement. „The U.N, is preparing to fly tents and blankets to the region to meet immediate shelter requirements. Other key needs are likely to be water and food, as well as medical supplies.“ Teirlinck said aid workers from parts of the afflicted Takhar province had now reached the quake-hit region. „Over 36 villages have been destroyed in Takhar province and relief workers now say that 21 villages have been destroyed in Badakhshan (province) too,“ he said quoting aid workers from the scene of the disaster. He said a plane belonging to the United Nations could not land in Khoja Ghar airport, south of Rustaq, because of bad weather and a muddy air strip. More tremors were felt in Takhar province, aid workers and residents said. Teirlinck said that the biggest problem now in the region was lack of medicine. „We will send two planes for assessment that will take relief workers and medicines to Faizabad,“ Juan Martinez, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told reporters in Kabul. Faizabad is to the east of the epicentre of Saturday‘s quake. From there, the ICRC will head overland to Rustaq and Chah-ab. Aid agencies have remained in northern Afghanistan since the February quake trying to coordinate and distribute relief in an area where thousands of homes were flattened and thousands of people made homeless.