No fewer than 80 people were killed in flash floods in northern Afghanistan that also left 120 missing and hundreds of houses destroyed.
An official said today that 40 people, including women and children died in the districts of Qosh Tepa, Darzab and Khoja Do Koh, in Jowzjan province.
“We have so far found 26 bodies, including 15 children and five women in Sheberghan city,” the provincial capital, Deputy Governor, Abdul Rahman Mahmoudi said.
He said that seven other bodies were found in Qosh Tepa district and around 10 in Darzab and Khoja Do Koh districts after overnight floods.
Nine villages in Darzab district were destroyed and many others damaged across the province’s three affected districts.
Also, in the neighbouring province of Sari Pul, six people died, and 17 others were missing, Gov Abdul Jabbar Haqbeen said.
Another 30 people were killed and many villages flattened in Faryab province, said Javed Bedar, spokesman for that province’s governor.
Thousands of animals perished in the three provinces, according to officials, who called the flood unprecedented in 30 years.
The waters also damaged hundreds of houses, orchards, farmlands and roads.
The Air force allocated two helicopters to rescue the people from the flood-hit areas in Jowzjan province, but officials say it was not enough for those displaced.
Over 7,000 people were driven from their houses, officials said.
