Over 300 dead in Afghanistan flash floods, including dozens of children: UN
- Authorities and non-governmental groups have deployed rescuers and aid, warning that some areas have been cut off by flooding
- Heavy rains have caused heavy damage in several provinces, with Baghlan among the hardest hit: ‘my whole life was swept away by the flood’
Shopkeeper Nazer Mohammad ran home as soon as he heard about flash floods crashing into the outskirts of a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan. By the time he got there, there was nothing left, including his family of five.
“Everything happened just all of a sudden. I came home, but there was no home there, instead I saw all the neighbourhood covered by mud and water,” said Mohammad, 48. He said he buried his wife and two sons aged 15 and 8 years, but he was still looking for two daughters, who are around 6 and 11 years old.
The United Nations’ World Food Programme estimated that unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have left more than 300 people dead and thousands of houses destroyed, most of them in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of deluges on Friday.
Mohammad said on Sunday that he found the bodies of his wife and two sons late Friday night on the outskirt of Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province.
“I hope someone has found my daughters alive,” he said, holding back tears. “Just in the blink of an eye, I lost everything: family, home, belongings, now nothing is left to me.”
Among the dead are 51 children, according to UNICEF, one of several international aid groups sending relief teams, medicines, blankets and other supplies. The World Health Organization said it delivered 7 tons of medicines and emergency kits.
