Last week, farmer Abdul Ghani rushed home from neighboring Kunduz province where he was visiting relatives after hearing that his village in northern Afghanistan had been hit by devastating floods. When he returned home, he learned that his wife and three children had died in the flood.
Two of her sons survived, but another 11-year-old son is still missing. “He couldn’t even find his way to his village,” he said, recounting how he turned back and took another road to reach Narin district in Baghlan province.
Flash floods wreak havoc in northern Afghanistan, Taliban report at least 50 dead
Across Baghlan, people like Ghani and survivors of the disaster continued to search for missing loved ones and bury the dead on Monday.
“Roads, villages and land were all washed away,” Ghani said. His wife, daughters, ages 7 and 9, and son, 4, died.
People are seen near damaged homes during heavy flooding in northern Afghanistan’s Baghlan province on Saturday, May 11, 2024. Flash floods caused by seasonal rains in northern Afghanistan’s Baghlan province on Friday killed dozens of people, Taliban officials said. (AP Photo/Mehrab Ibrahimi)
“My life became miserable,” he told The Associated Press by phone.
The UN food agency estimates that more than 300 people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed by unusually heavy rains in Afghanistan, mostly in Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the floods on Friday.
The World Food Organization said survivors were left without homes, land or livelihoods. Large parts of Baghlan are “inaccessible by truck,” WFP said, adding that it was relying on all possible alternatives to get food to survivors.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his condolences to the victims in a statement on Sunday, adding that international organizations and aid agencies were working with the Taliban-run government to provide assistance.
“The United Nations and its partners in Afghanistan are working with de facto authorities to rapidly assess needs and provide emergency assistance,” the statement said.
UNICEF, one of several international aid groups sending relief teams, medicine, blankets and other supplies, said the dead included 51 children. The World Health Organization said it had delivered seven tonnes of medicines and emergency kits to the affected areas.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, the UN migration agency is distributing aid packages containing temporary shelter, non-food necessities, solar modules, clothing and tools to repair damaged shelters.
The latest disaster comes on the heels of a previous disaster in the country in April, when at least 70 people died due to heavy rains and flash floods. The waters also destroyed around 2,000 homes, three mosques and four schools in the western provinces of Farah and Herat, and the southern provinces of Zabul and Kandahar.
