News / Afghanistan

Flash floods in north Afghanistan claim 38 lives

Monday, 18 April 2016 3:21 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 April 2016 3:20 PM ]

A young Afghan pedestrian uses a fence to navigate along a flooded street as heavy rain falls on a street in the capital, Kabul, on April 2, 2016. (AFP photo)

At least 38 people have lost their lives due to heavy rains accompanied by flash floods in northern parts of Afghanistan, officials say.

Afghan officials said on Monday that the deaths were reported in the country’s northern provinces of Takhar, Badghis and Samangan during flash floods that began Sunday night.

The director of natural disasters in Takhar Province said 13 people, including children, died in the districts of Kalafgan and Bangi.

Abdul Razaq Zinda also said that scores of houses, especially mud-brick structures, were destroyed during the heavy rain.

In Badghis Province, a local police spokesman said 19 people died in Muqur district.

Flash waters killed six people, three women and three children, and damaged about 20 houses and at least five acres of agricultural land in Samangan Province.

Local officials noted that the main transportation routes have been blocked as a result of the flooding.

Heavy rainfall also struck the Afghan capital, Kabul, but no major damage has been reported.

Flooding and landslides often occur during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan. Many homes in rural areas of the country are destroyed due to heavy rains as they are built out of mud or stones and are thus easily washed away by flooding.

Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to various kinds of natural disasters.

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