ADVERTISEMENT

Flooding kills at least 68 people in Afghanistan

An Afghan couple sit near to their damaged home after heavy flooding in Ghor province in western Afghanistan Saturday, May 18, 2024.
An Afghan couple sit near to their damaged home after heavy flooding in Ghor province in western Afghanistan Saturday, May 18, 2024. Copyright AP Photo
Copyright AP Photo
By Kristina HarazimEuronews with AP
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

At least 50 people have been reported dead in the hard-hit western province of Ghor, according to local authorities after unusually heavy seasonal rain.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ghor Province spokesman, Abdul Wahid Hamas, said the area recorded significant financial losses after thousands of homes and properties were damaged and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land destroyed following Friday’s floods, including the capital city Feroz Koh.

Eighteen people in the northern province of Farayab were killed and two others injured on Friday, according to the provincial governor's spokesman, Esmatullah Moradi. Damage to property and land was reported across four districts and more than 300 animals were killed, he added.

In a post on social  media platform X, the UN food agency said Ghor was most affected by the floods where 2,500 families were impacted. It said WFP assessment teams are on the ground to deploy assistance.

Last week, the WFP said the exceptionally heavy rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of floods on May 10th.

Survivors have been left with no home, no land, and no source of livelihood, the World Food Organization said. Most of Baghlan is ''inaccessible by trucks'', said WFP, adding that it is resorting to every alternative possible to deliver food to the survivors.

An Afghan man collects his belongings from his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province, in northern Afghanistan, Sunday, May 12, 2024.
An Afghan man collects his belongings from his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province, in northern Afghanistan, Sunday, May 12, 2024.STR/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

The latest disaster came on the heels of devastating floods that killed at least 70 people in April. The waters also destroyed about 2,000 homes, three mosques and four schools in western Farah and Herat, and southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces.

The Taliban’s government chief spokesman posted on X that he mourned ''the loss of our fellow Afghans'', and urged ''responsible authorities...to provide all necessary support to alleviate the suffering''. He also called on ''our benevolent donors'' to help, and humanitarian organisations to provide the affected communities with aid.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Europe hit by severe floods in the north and heatwaves in the south

Floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan, UN says

Severe flooding leaves at least 100 dead and thousands homeless in Brazil