Parun, Jul 29 (FN Agency) At least 40 people have been killed, many injured and several villagers went missing after torrential floods hit a village in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nuristan early Thursday, a provincial source said. “The predawn floods triggered by heavy rains engulfed Mirdesh village in far-flung Kamdesh district. The initial information showed that local villagers found 40 bodies while many others were still missing,” chairman of Provincial Council Sadullah Payendazoi told Xinhua.
The village was located at a narrow valley and nearly all the village’s houses were affected by the floods, he said. The floods also swept away many residential houses, cattle, agriculture lands and orchards in the village and demolished a large part of a district road in Kamdesh bordering Pakistan, resulting in the closure of the road. The office of the State Minister for Disaster Management said in a statement that the agency failed to conduct a search and rescue operation in the area as of midday on Thursday, as the district has been under the Taliban outfit’s control.
The provincial directorates for disaster management in neighboring Laghman and Kunar provinces were in contact with the Afghan Red Crescent Society and International Immigration Organization (IOM), seeking their assistance to provide essential aids for the affected people in the mountainous region, the statement said. Meanwhile, provincial Governor Hafiz Abdul Qayyum told Xinhua that as soon as the Taliban allows the provincial officials to access the area, rescue teams will be dispatched to the area and humanitarian assistance will be sent to the affected people.