Mudslide survivors in Argu village, Afghanistan. Photograph: Nasir Waqif/EPA
Lailema's
soft wailing filters through the canvas of her tent, a 12-year-old's
hopeless lament for her mother and a life that is gone forever. Her
three younger siblings play on the dusty floor as her grandmother cries
silently nearby and her uncle wonders how to feed his new dependents.
None
of them have eaten since the landslide in the village of Aab Barik – in
the north-eastern province of Badakshan – that took away their home and
six relatives two days earlier, despite trucks full of food aid parked
just a few metres away. No one has distributed the bags of rice, oil and
other necessities, they say.
"They promised that they would hand
them out after the government officials leave today," said Khan Baay,
the uncle, who was heading out to hear the vice-president, Yunus Qanuni,
lead prayers for the dead and promise survivors whatever help they
need, backed by a delegation of ministers, members of parliament and
European ambassadors.
But many on the ground were less interested
in pledges from dignitaries helicoptered in to survey the damage than
getting their hands on something edible. "I am so hungry I could scratch
your eyes out," said Bibi Jaahan, a grandmother in her early 60s who
lost her home and several relatives to the mud. "I haven't eaten for
over two days."
Sharing her tent is Zaina, breastfeeding her
11-month-old son but worried that her milk is drying up, as he grumbles
then starts crying. She has only scavenged a few biscuits to feed him,
and knows he needs more solid food.
The Afghan Red Crescent was
quick to hand out tents to those who lost their homes in last Friday's
devastating mudslide, and in the corner of newly motherless Lailema's
cramped new home, barely two metres wide and perhaps three times as
long, there are new plates and tea cups but nothing to eat off them.
They
were part of their package of "non-food items", explains Ahmad, an
official from the charity who stops by to check on the family. "We
started handing out tents on Friday, but other organisations are
responsible for food. We cannot provide everything ourselves."
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| Description |
| Around
250 people were feared dead following a landslide in northeastern
Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. According to local government
officials, the incident took place in Argu district and dozens of others
have been trapped under the rocks. A local official in Badakhshan
province said around around 250 people have been killed following the
landslide while 200 houses and dozens of more people were trapped
following the rockslide. Provincial police chief, Fazluddin Ayar
confirmed that over 250 people were trapped following a landslide in Aab
Khoshk village. Mr. Ayar further added that the incident took place
around 12:00 pm local time and Afghan secuirty forces and rescue teams
have been deployed to the area to assist the local residents. This comes
as deputy Afghan interior minister Gen. Ayub Salangi earlier said
around 200 houses were affected following the rockslide. Gen. Salangi
had said preliminary reports suggest that the casualties due to the
rockslide is around 200 people. |
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| Updated: | Friday, 02 May, 2014 at 16:13 UTC |
| Description |
| A
landslide triggered by heavy rains buried a village Friday in
northeastern Afghanistan, leaving as many as 2,000 people missing, a top
official said. Badakshan province Gov. Shah Waliullah Adeeb said more
than 2,000 people were missing after a hill collapsed on the village of
Hobo Barik. Adeeb said the landslide buried some 300 homes in the area -
about a third of all houses there. The governor said rescue crews were
working but didn't have enough equipment, appealing for shovels. "It's
physically impossible right now," Adeeb said. "We don't have enough
shovels; we need more machinery." He said authorities evacuated a nearby
village over concerns about further landslides. Faziluddin Hayar, the
police chief in Badakshan province, said the landslide happened about 1
p.m. Friday. Badakshan province, nestled in the Hindu Kush and Pamir
mountain ranges and bordering China, is one of the most remote in the
country. The area has seen few attacks from insurgents following the
2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. |
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| Updated: | Saturday, 03 May, 2014 at 04:09 UTC |
| Description |
A
landslide triggered by heavy rain buried large sections of a
northeastern Afghan village Friday, killing at least 350 people and
leaving up to 2,500 missing. Villagers looked on helplessly and the
governor appealed for shovels to help dig through the mass of mud that
flattened every home in its path. The mountainous area in Badakhshan
province has experienced days of heavy rain and flooding, and the side
of a cliff collapsed onto the village of Hobo Barik at midday, burying
it under up to 60 feet of mud and rocks, officials said. Landslides and
avalanches are frequent in Afghanistan, but Friday's was one of the
deadliest. It was one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory in
Afghanistan, where spring rainfall and snowmelt make the mountainous
northeast susceptible to flash floods and mudslides. U.N. officials said
more Afghans had been killed in natural disasters in the past seven
days than in all of 2013. Gov. Shah Waliullah Adeeb said up to 2,500
people were missing after the landslide buried some 300 homes, about
one-third of all the houses in the area. At least 350 people were
confirmed dead, according to Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman from the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. He said the U.N. was working
with authorities to rescue trapped people.
The governor said
rescue crews were working, but didn't have enough equipment. "It's
physically impossible right now," Adeeb said. "We don't have enough
shovels; we need more machinery." The Badakhshan provincial police
chief, Maj. Gen. Faziluddin Hayar, said rescue workers had pulled seven
survivors and three bodies from the mounds of mud and earth, but held
out little hope that more survivors would be found. "Now we can only
help the displaced people. Those trapped under the landslide and who
have lost lives, it is impossible to do anything for them," Hayar said.
Video footage showed that a large section of the mountain collapsed,
sending mud and earth tumbling onto the village below. The landslide was
likely caused by heavy rain, said Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, the
province's director for the National Disaster Department. He said the
landslide happened about 1 p.m. Friday, a day of worship in Afghanistan
when many families would have been at home instead of at work. President
Obama said the United States was ready to assist. "I want to say on
behalf of the American people that our thoughts are with the people of
Afghanistan, who have experienced an awful tragedy," he said at the
White House during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel. U.N. humanitarian officials said some areas remained difficult
to reach, making the scale of the damage unclear. Officials fear more
landslides are possible because of more rain and melting snow. About 700
families living on a hillside near Aab Barik were told to move to
higher ground and wait for emergency aid to reach them, Adeeb said. |
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| Updated: | Saturday, 03 May, 2014 at 05:22 UTC |
| Description |
| About
2,250 people are feared dead after a mudslide Friday buried an Afghan
village in the far-north-eastern province of Badakhshan, a spokesman for
the provincial governor said. More than 300 houses in Ab-e-Barik were
swept away in the mudslide, which occurred after heavy rainfall, Naveed
Ferotan said. "Our rescue teams have so far found 150 bodies in the
area, and they are working hard to save the villagers," he said. About
2,100 other people are missing and also feared dead, officials said. The
mudslide first struck a wedding party, killing 250 people, and then
buried nearly all of the village as well as farmland, said Haji Abdul
Wadood Saeedi, governor of the Argu district, where Ab-e-Barik is
located. About 300 families are missing, he said. The ground is still
unstable, and people in nearby villages are scared they could also
become victims, Saeedi said. Rescue teams were dispatched to the area
and at least 1,500 people have been evacuated from Ab-e-Barik so far,
Saeedi said. The United Nations said 700 families lived in Ab-e-Barik
and at least 120 houses were destroyed. "Reportedly, 350 people have
died and 580 families are at severe risk of further landslides," said
Ari Gaitanis, a UN spokesman in Kabul. "The village is flooded, and a
drainage channel must be opened to prevent further destruction," he
said. The national government and United Nations planned their own
rescue and aid response. |
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| Updated: | Saturday, 03 May, 2014 at 14:26 UTC |
| Description |
| At
least 300 families have been burried under a hill that collapsed in a
remote mountain village in northeast Afghanistan on Friday. The
confirmed death count at present is 2,100, and is expected to rise in
the coming days. "More then 2,100 people from 300 families are all
dead," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan provincial
governorsaid. The United Nations said the focus was now on the more than
4,000 displaced by Friday's disaster. There is a risk of further
landslides in the area, officials said. |
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| Updated: | Sunday, 04 May, 2014 at 15:23 UTC |
| Description |
| The
Afghan government officially named the scene hit by a massive landslide
in Badakhshan province as a mass grave and started focusing on helping
the survivors on Sunday. "The religious scholars and high level
officials has convinced the locals to give up looking for dead bodies,"
Haji Abdul Wadoud, governor of Argo district in Badakhshan told Anadolu
Agency. "It is almost impossible to search for dead bodies," he said.
"When muslims die, they must be buried, and they are already under a
huge hill of mud." The first Vice President Mohammad Younus Qanooni also
visited the area on Sunday along with some cabinet members and
religious authorities. "All agreed that it would be named as the mass
grave of Abe Barik martyrs," Abdul Wadoud said. Early Friday afternoon, a
massive landslide triggered by heavy rainfall engulfed the village of
Abe Barik in northern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. At least 300
families have been trapped under dirt and mud, whereas only 255 of the
dead bodies have been identified so far, but the local authorities
estimate that more than 2,100 people are dead. Heavy rains in the last
few weeks have also caused flash floods in different parts of the
country, taking dozens of lives and damaging hundreds of houses.
Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has delivered humanitarian
aid to 350 families hit by Friday's landslide disaster in Badakhshan
province in northeast Afghanistan. "Emergency packages were prepared for
350 families in the first stage of the aid campaign," Orhan Sefik,
Central Asia regional coordinator of the foundation, told Anadolu
Agency. He said the packages contained food, rugs, blankets and kitchen
utensils, adding that the foundation would continue to provide aid to
the area. Earlier, Noor Mohammad Khawari, head of the Badakhshan central
hospital told Anadolu Agency that it would be tragic if the locals
agreed to the village becoming a mass grave although he said it would
require an extraordinary effort driving by a big number of professionals
and machinery to find the buried individuals. "Now they are discussing
securing the scene from the threat of floods so that members of the
victim families can come here to prayer" Khawari added. In a statement
released from his office late Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai
said he was deeply saddened after hearing the news of the landslide. The
Afghan government has also announced a day of national mourning in the
country. |
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