In Afghanistan, rescue workers searched for survivors of flash floods that killed more than hundred people and destroyed hundreds of houses near Kabul, said officials. Troops pulled dozens of victims from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Charikar, capital of Parwan province, after torrential overnight rains fuelled fierce floods that swept through the city.
Many children were among the dead, said officials and witnesses .
45 year old, farmer, a local resident Mohamed Qasimtold AFP that eleven members of his family were killed in the floods.
“My sister, her husband, two of their daughters and their children were all sleeping in one house,” said Qasim.
“When the flood hit, the house collapsed on them. Eleven members of my family were killed, most of them my nieces and nephews.”
Piles of rocks from destroyed buildings were scattered across the city, with roads blocked by mud and debris and cars flipped on their side.
The death toll from the floods had risen to 100, with about 100 other people injured and close to 500 houses destroyed, said Afghanistan’s state ministry for disaster management.
In parts of Charikar anxious residents gathered to see if rescue workers using heavy machinery would be able to pull loved ones from the wreckage.
Many residents stood on rooftops under continued heavy rain, holding on to their salvaged belongings.
70-year-old Hamida said that,”I was alone when the flood hit. I grabbed the window and was holding it for two hours until the neighbours came to rescue me.
“I lost everything, my jewellery, money and all my property.”
Flash floods were also reported in other provinces including Nangarhar, Panjshir, Wardak, Loghar, Paktika and Kapisa.
In the Surobi district of Kabul province, a flash flood killed 8 people and injured thirteen more, said Khushal Nabizada, provincial public health director.
Torrential downpours and flash floods kill scores of people annually in Afghanistan.
Many poorly built homes, mostly in rural areas, are at risk of collapse during the rains in the impoverished country.
Sixteen people, including 15 children, were killed and dozens of houses were destroyed when flash floods ravaged a village in the eastern province of Nangarhar earlier this month.
Heavy monsoon rains have also wrought havoc on neighbouring Pakistan, with authorities in the southern city of Karachi reporting thirty deaths over the past 3 weeks from flood-related incidents, including injuries from collapsed buildings, drownings and electrocutions.
Ashraf Ghani ,Afghan President had ordered emergency relief to be sent to Charikar, said the presidential palace in a statement.
