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regular-article-logo Friday, 15 November 2024

Flash floods by heavy rainfall damage villages and kills 315 people in Afghanistan

Thousands of homes were damaged and livestock wiped out, the Taliban-run refugee ministry said, while aid groups warned of damage to health care facilities and vital infrastructure, such as water supply, with streets left coated in mud

Reuters Nahrin, Afghanistan Published 13.05.24, 07:12 AM
Representational image

Representational image File picture

Flash floods caused by heavy rain have devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 315 people and injuring more than 1,600, authorities said on Sunday, as villagers buried their dead and aid agencies warned of widening havoc.

Thousands of homes were damaged and livestock wiped out, the Taliban-run refugee ministry said, while aid groups warned of damage to health care facilities and vital infrastructure, such as water supply, with streets left coated in mud.

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In the Nahrin district of Baghlan province, people carried their shrouded dead to a gravesite.

"We have no food, no drinking water, no shelter, no blankets, nothing at all, floods have destroyed everything," said Muhammad Yahqoob, who has lost 13 members of his family, including children.

The survivors were struggling to cope, he added.

"Out of 42 houses, only two or three remain, it has destroyed the entire valley."

In a statement, the Taliban's economy minister Din Mohammad Hanif urged the United Nations, humanitarian agencies and private business to provide support for those hit by the floods.

"Lives and livelihoods have been washed away," said Arshad Malik, the Afghanistan director for Save the Children. "The flash floods tore through villages, sweeping away homes and killing livestock."

He estimated that 3,10,000 children lived in the worst-hit districts, adding, "Children have lost everything".

The refugee ministry said Sunday's latest tally of dead and injured came from its Baghlan provincial office, according to a post on X.

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