At least 38 killed, 57 injured in flash floods in Afghanistan
Kabul, Jul 24 (EFE).- At least 38 people have been killed and 57 wounded in Afghanistan due to flash floods triggered by the torrential rain which has been lashing the country over the past four days, officials said on Monday.
“Unfortunately, 38 people died, 57 were wounded and two others still missing due to heavy rains, and flash floods over the past four days,” Shafiullah Rahimi, the spokesperson for the disaster management ministry, said in a statement.
The rains and floods have mainly affected eastern and southeastern provinces of Maidan Wardak, Kabul, Khost, Paktia, Nuristan, Ghazni and Nangarhar.
The devastating floods have also destroyed 900 houses and 2,800 hectares of agricultural land and orchards, while perishing hundreds of domesticated animals of the villagers, Rahimi said,
The disaster management ministry instructed relevant authorities to assist affected people and conduct rapid assessment of the damage.
The ministry has also held an emergency response meeting with national and international NGOs to coordinate disaster response efforts in the affected areas.
Afghanistan is a mountainous country, which often suffers from natural disasters, mainly flash floods, earthquakes, snowstorms and landslides causing the loss of numerous lives, and destruction of vulnerable infrastructures.
Last year, natural disasters, mainly heavy floods, had killed 1,000 and wounded 2,000 people, destroyed 40,000 houses and hundreds of acres of agricultural land, while also resulting in the death of around 90,000 domesticated animals across the country.
In 2014, the country witnessed one of its worst natural disasters when a landslide triggered by rain killed more than 2,000 people in the northeastern Badakhshan province, which often witnesses natural disasters.
The natural disasters coupled by the country’s fragile economic situation – worsened by the Taliban’s arrival in power in August 2021 – have aggravated the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. EFE
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