KABUL: At least 10 people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed in a remote area of northeastern Afghanistan after melting snow triggered a landslide, officials said Thursday.
A mountain lake in Panjshir, a province north of Kabul known for its snowcapped peaks, overflowed and sent water and mud cascading over Peshghor village, Omar Mohammadi, spokesman for the disaster management ministry, told AFP.
Jamil Ahmad was lying in bed just before midnight when he said he heard a sound like “jets” flying overhead.
“Somebody shouted ‘Flood!’ and I ran away with my family to higher ground,” Ahmad told AFP by telephone.
“The people started firing (weapons) into the air to warn others about the flood.”
The water and mud had inundated most of the houses in the village, and destroyed a religious school, two mosques and the main market, Ahmad said.
“Three women from my neighborhood and two laborers who didn’t hear the warning were taken away by the flood,” Ahmad said.
Villagers had been worried about the possibility of landslides after several days of increasingly warm weather, Ahmad said.
Most survivors were staying on higher ground for fear of more, he added.
Photos posted on social media purportedly showed houses and farmland covered in water and mud after the Panjshir River broke its banks.
Villagers using shovels and other tools were desperately searching for survivors in the debris as rescue teams were deployed to the area, Mohammadi said.
“We have deployed everything at hand to help the people,” he said. “Some people are missing.”
Disasters such as avalanches and flash floods often hit in mountainous areas of Afghanistan as snow melts in the spring and summer. It is made worse by deforestation.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who is in Brussels for the NATO summit, said he was “deeply saddened” by the latest natural disaster.
“A number of people have lost their lives” in the landslide, Ghani said in a statement.
He ordered “relevant authorities to provide urgent assistance to the affected people.”
The landslide comes as the country is in the grip of a nearly 17-year war between Afghan security forces and the Taliban.
10 dead, hundreds of houses destroyed in Afghan landslide
10 dead, hundreds of houses destroyed in Afghan landslide
- At least 10 people killed, hundreds of homes destroyed in Afghanistan after melting snow triggers landslide
- A mountain lake overflowed and sent water and mud cascading over Peshghor village
UK starts visa requirements for St. Lucians
- Saint Lucia’s government said it was actively engaging with British government
- It said it would continue talks to “explore pathways for maintaining strong mobility arrangements“
CASTRIES: Britain has introduced a visa requirement for Saint Lucians effective from Thursday citing a “notable increase” in nationals from the small Caribbean nation claiming asylum, Saint Lucia’s government said in a statement.
Immigration is one of Britain’s most politically sensitive issues, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has sought to show it is tightening the system as the populist Reform UK party gains ground in opinion polls.
Saint Lucia, a former British colony, has a population of about 180,000. Last year, the World Bank estimated a net emigration of just 23 people.
Its government said it was actively engaging with British government and would continue talks to “explore pathways for maintaining strong mobility arrangements.”
It said it was informed in a letter dated Wednesday.
Saint Lucia is a member of the Commonwealth, an association of mostly former British colonies. Before the 1970s, nationals of many of these had the right to live and work in the UK. Saint Lucians previously needed a 16 pound Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to travel to the UK. \
There will be a six-week transition for ETA holders, its government said.
On Tuesday, Britain said it would block study visas for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan and halt work visas for Afghans.
