PUL-I-KHUMRI - More than 100 people have reportedly died after flash floods swept through the Guzarga-i-Noor district of northern Baghlan province, rendering thousands of families homeless, officials said on Saturday.
The flooding followed Friday’s evening torrential rains, killing more than 70 people and destroying hundreds of homes, Deputy Governor Abdul Qadim Niazi said.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News they held an emergency meeting to send an official team to the affected areas to assess the situation and help those in need.
But Guzarga-i-Noor administrative chief Noor Mohammad Guzar put at 200 the number of people died, saying more than 100 houses were washed away.
He complained they lacked resources to search for those missing and recover the dead from flooded areas. The floods left the district centre completely disconnected from the affected villages. Exact figures for the fatalities could not be confirmed.
The district chief himself along with other locals had climbed a hillside to avoid the flooding. Guzarga-i-Noor, which is about 120 kilometres north of the provincial capital Pul-i-Khumri, borders neighbouring Takhar province.
Mullah Nasim, a resident of Deh Miana village, said Deh Qandi, Mir Khel, Dasht-i-Gharo and his town were the worst affected areas.
He said 36 bodies, including eight women and 13 children, had been recovered from the floodwaters.
Nasim added 200 houses were completely washed away and as many damaged, while residents had taken refuge in nearby hilltops.
“Some visiting officials gave us food, water and medical aid, but the aid is not enough to fulfill our needs. We direly need shelter and more medicine.”
It was the latest in a string of deadly flash floods, landslides and avalanches in northern provinces. Officials feared the death toll could climb to 100 and called for emergency assistance from the central government.
The district police chief said the affected families were trying to find their missing relatives and so far no one had come to help them.
Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi told a foreign news agency that two Army helicopters had been sent to the area to provide assistance.
An Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) official said they had started the process of shipping stockpiles of food and other supplies to the affected area
Authorities have not yet provided exact figures from the May 2 landslide that buried an entire village in northeastern Badakhshan province. The landslide has displaced nearly 700 families currently housed in tents.
In 2012, a landslide in Baghlan killed 71 people, but only five bodies could be unearthed, with authorities deciding to halt the recovery effort and turning the area into a memorial for the dead. (Pajhwok)