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| Afghanistan flash flood 'kills 65' in Baghlan province | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Flash flooding in the remote northern Afghan province of Baghlan has killed at least 65 people and forced thousands to abandon their homes, police say. | |
| The flooding has been deadliest in the Guzargah-e-Nur district of the province 140km (87 miles) north of the provincial capital Puli Khumri. | The flooding has been deadliest in the Guzargah-e-Nur district of the province 140km (87 miles) north of the provincial capital Puli Khumri. |
| Police say the dead include women and children. About 200 people are missing. | |
| Dozens of people have been killed in floods that have swept across northern Afghanistan in recent weeks. | Dozens of people have been killed in floods that have swept across northern Afghanistan in recent weeks. |
| Thousands of houses have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been affected. | Thousands of houses have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been affected. |
| Flooding and landslides happen annually during the spring-summer rainy season in the north of the country, where flimsy mud houses offering scant shelter against rising water levels and an volumes of mud. | |
| 'Huge disaster' | |
| Baghlan provincial police chief Aminullah Amarkhel told the BBC that floods hit four villages in Guzargah-e-Nur, destroying roads and bridges. | |
| He said there was not enough dry land for helicopters to land. | |
| "Right now, people need drinking water the most [as well as] medicine and food," Gen Amarkhel said. | |
| "This is a huge disaster," he said. "Communities have lost everything, land, cattle and livelihoods." | |
| The authorities in Guzargah-e-Nur - an especially inaccessible area of Baghlan - have appealed to the central government to provide emergency assistance. | The authorities in Guzargah-e-Nur - an especially inaccessible area of Baghlan - have appealed to the central government to provide emergency assistance. |
| "So far no one has come to help us. People are trying to find their missing family members," Guzargah-e-Nur police chief Fazel Rahman Rahman was quoted by the AP news agency as saying. | "So far no one has come to help us. People are trying to find their missing family members," Guzargah-e-Nur police chief Fazel Rahman Rahman was quoted by the AP news agency as saying. |
| He said that his officers had been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. | He said that his officers had been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. |
| The defence ministry says that two army helicopters have been deployed to provide assistance - correspondents say the landing difficulties mean it is not clear how they will now be used. | |
| The Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority says that it has stockpiles of food and other supplies in Baghlan province, and has begun transporting them to the affected area. | The Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority says that it has stockpiles of food and other supplies in Baghlan province, and has begun transporting them to the affected area. |
| Last month flood waters washed away a big section of the main north-south road in the Tashqorghan gorge, effectively cutting off the north of the country. | Last month flood waters washed away a big section of the main north-south road in the Tashqorghan gorge, effectively cutting off the north of the country. |
| Further north-east in Badakhshan province, hundreds of people were killed in early May by a landslide which engulfed some 300 houses. | Further north-east in Badakhshan province, hundreds of people were killed in early May by a landslide which engulfed some 300 houses. |