ISLAMABAD – When he learned that devastating floods hit his village in northern Afghanistan last week, farmer Abdul Ghani rushed home from neighboring Kunduz province, where he was visiting family. When he arrived home, he discovered that his wife and three children had died in the flood.
Two of his children survived, but another son, aged 11, is still missing. “I couldn’t even find the road to my village,” he said, describing how he turned back and took another route to reach his district of Nahrin in Baghlan province.
In Baghlan, others like Ghani and survivors of the disaster were still searching for their missing loved ones and burying their dead on Monday.
“Roads, villages and land were all destroyed,” Ghani said. His wife, 7- and 9-year-old daughters and 4-year-old son died.
“My life has turned into a disaster,” he said, speaking to The Associated Press by phone.
The UN food agency estimates that unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have left more than 300 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed, most of them in Baghlan, which bore the brunt of Friday’s floods.
Survivors were left without a home, land and source of livelihood, the World Food Organization said. Most of Baghlan is “inaccessible to trucks”, the WFP said, adding that it is using every alternative it can imagine to get food to survivors.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed condolences to the victims, a statement said on Sunday, adding that the world body and aid agencies were working with the Taliban-led government to help.
“The United Nations and its partners in Afghanistan are coordinating with de facto authorities to quickly assess needs and provide emergency assistance,” according to the statement.
The dead include 51 children, according to UNICEF, one of several international aid groups that are sending relief teams, medicines, blankets and other supplies. The World Health Organization said it had delivered 7 tons of medicines and emergency kits to affected areas.
Meanwhile, the UN migration agency has distributed aid packages that include temporary shelters, essential non-food items, solar modules, clothing and tools to repair their damaged shelters.
The latest disaster followed a previous one, when at least 70 people died in April due to heavy rains and flash floods in the country. The waters also destroyed around 2,000 homes, three mosques and four schools in western Farah and Herat, and in southern Zabul and Kandahar provinces.
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