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Between Friday and Saturday, central and eastern parts of Afghanistan were hit by heavy rains, which resulted severe flooding: according to the United Nations at least 300 people have died and many others are missing. The floods also destroyed thousands of homes and other buildings, and many areas were evacuated.
The most affected province was Baghlan, in the north-eastern part of the country, where thousands of houses were destroyed or damaged, as well as many roads, infrastructure and electricity networks. There was also damage in some provinces in the central part of Afghanistan, such as Ghor and Herat, while in the province of Badakhshan, on the border with Tajikistan, around 2 thousand farm animals died, according to local authorities.
In the most affected areas were sent rescuers, doctors, ambulances and supplies of food and water, said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health. The authorities are also taking steps to evacuate the areas most affected or considered at risk, and many people have been taken to hospital. Various videos published on social media, cited by international media such as Associated Press, show dozens of people in a hospital in Baghlan province looking for their friends or family. Other videos show streets flooded with water and mud.
Roads and buildings damaged by rain in Baghlan province, Afghanistan (AP Photo/Mehrab Ibrahimi)
Afghanistan has been hit by unusually heavy rains in recent weeks, with floods collectively killing hundreds of people since mid-April. Afghanistan is a country very subject to events of this type, due to increasingly intense rainfall and often weak infrastructure, especially in the poorest areas of the country. Is considered one of the countries most at risk due to climate change. Furthermore, last October the western province of Herat was hit by a strong earthquake which caused extensive damage and the deaths of hundreds of people.