More than 300 people have been killed in flash floods in several Afghan provinces, the World Food Program said on Saturday, as authorities declared a state of emergency and rushed to rescue the injured.
Heavy rains on Friday led to rivers of water and mud flowing into villages and agricultural lands in several provinces.
An AFP journalist watched as survivors were pulled from mud, debris-laden roads and damaged buildings on Saturday, as authorities and non-governmental groups deployed rescue workers and aid, warning that some could be affected by the floods. Areas have been cut off.
According to WFP, northern Baghlan province was one of the most affected provinces, where more than 300 people alone were killed and thousands of homes destroyed or damaged.
“According to current information: there have been 311 deaths, 2,011 houses destroyed and 2,800 houses damaged in Baghlan province,” Rana Deraz, the UN agency's communications officer in Afghanistan, told AFP.
There were disparities between the death toll provided by the government and humanitarian agencies.
The International Organization for Migration, the UN migration agency, said there were 218 deaths in Baghlan.