AFGHANISTAN: Landslide kills 13 in the north

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KABUL, 16 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - A landslide triggered by heavy rain and snow killed at least 13 people in a remote village in the northern Sar-e-Pol province, Afghan officials confirmed on Sunday.

“A landslide on Friday night in Ghuldori village in the Kuhistanat district killed 13 people and injured three others including men and women,” said Mohammad Nadir Fahimi, chief of police in Sar-e-Pol province, speaking from the provincial capital of the same name. He has asked government and relief agencies to provide aid to those affected.

“Around 50 affected families are in dire need of foodstuffs, medicine, blankets and shelter,” Fahim added, noting the landslide has destroyed five houses and killed at least 40 domestic animals in the area.

Yar Mohammad, 32, a resident of the affected area said: ”It was a terrible moment. We were hearing voices from the ruins. We rescued a child crying from under a collapsed house.”

According to officials, heavy snowfall and rain has blocked roads between the remote Balkhab district and the capital of the province, making assistance difficult to deliver.

But some assistance had reached the stricken village by early Monday. Abdul Rahim Zarin, spokesman for the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), said that their regional office in Sar-e-pol has sent a relief team to the affected area.

“Our team has distributed 30 tents, 100 blankets, 30 plastic sheets, 60 cans of cooking oil and 30 cans of emergency medicine to the affected people,” Zarin noted.

Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai expressed his deep condolences to the victims of the landslide in a statement released on Sunday.

Last February, cold weather and heavy snowfalls killed more than 500 people, mostly women and children, across the country. Roads blocked by snow led to a delay in getting emergency assistance to nearly 61 districts in 19 affected provinces.

[ENDS]