Heavy flooding in northern Afghanistan has killed dozens of people, as the deluge ravaged homes in the area, officials said.
Spokesperson for the northern province of Parwan Wahida Shahkar said on Wednesday the number of casualties may rise as rescue teams work to locate people buried under destroyed houses.
She said at least 66 people were killed and 90 were injured in the province while the head of the provincial hospital, Abdul Qasim Sangin, said 35 bodies and 76 injured were brought there.
Containing the incident and helping the affected families was beyond the capacity of the local government, and the central government should step in quickly, Shahkar said.
Many children were among the dead in Charikar, which was hit by heavy rains overnight, the Ministry of Disaster Management said in a statement.
About 20 people were also injured and more than 300 houses destroyed, it said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in a statement ordered aid be delivered to Parwan and other provinces while expressing his condolences to the victims’ families.
Ahmad Tameem Azimi, spokesman of the Disaster Management Ministry, said flooding blocked highways to eastern and northern provinces.
“Along with rescuing people were are working to open the highways back to the traffic,” he said.
He said ground and air support sent to help those trapped by the flooding had reached the provinces.
Azimi said the ministry warned residents of possible flooding in the region with a social media alert late on Tuesday.
He said hundred of acres of agricultural land have been destroyed, with the heavy rain wiping out all the corps in eastern Nuristan province.
Houses and roads were destroyed in northern Kapisa, Panjshir and eastern Paktia provinces, Azimi said.
In eastern Maidan Wardak province two people died and five were injured when flooding destroyed several houses, Azimi said.
The office of the Nangarhar governor said in a statement that two members of a family died and four others were injured Wednesday morning when the wall of their house collapsed in flooding.
Summer often brings heavy rainfall in northern and eastern Afghanistan, leading to floods that leave hundreds dead every year.
Earlier this month, 16 people, including 15 children, were killed and dozens of houses destroyed when flash floods hit a village in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
