Officials claimed on Thursday that flash floods blasted an area northeast of the capital Kabul, killing at least 40 people and leaving 150 more missings in northern Afghanistan.
After torrential rains flooded the Kamdesh district in Nuristan province, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) northeast of Kabul, a rescue mission was launched to locate the missing persons.
“Flash floods killed almost 40 people last night,” Saeedullah Nuristani, the provincial council’s head, told AFP.
After floods rushed across the neighbourhood, he stated 150 people were still missing and over 80 homes were destroyed.
A spokesman for Nuristan’s governor, Saeed Momand, offered a somewhat higher death toll, claiming that more than 60 people had died in the floods.
In Afghanistan, torrential rains and flash floods kill tens of thousands of people each year.
During the rainy season in the impoverished country, many poorly constructed dwellings, mainly in rural regions, are at risk of collapsing.
Last year, flash floods slammed through swathes of Parwan province, killing dozens of people.
This year’s floods occur at a time when Afghanistan is experiencing an uptick in warfare, with the Taliban waging various offensives around the nation.
The increase in warfare comes as Afghanistan battles the third wave of Covid-19, which has swamped the country’s shabby healthcare system, while other sections of the country are suffering from a severe drought.
