Afghanistan Landslide Kills More Than 50 in Remote Badakhshan Province

The Associated Press
Published: April 28,2015



 

In this image from May 5, 2014, Afghan villagers sit together near the scene in the landslide-hit Aab Bareek village in Argo district of Badakhshan.
(SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)

At least 52 people died Tuesday in a large landslide in northeastern Afghanistan, according to a provincial official.
The landslide cut off parts of Badakhshan province from the rest of the country, covering the entire area in snow, according to provincial governor Waliullah Adeeb. Because the area is only accessible from the air, rescue efforts have been severely hampered.
Landslides are frequent in Badakhshan during this time of year, as the snow melts and the ground becomes unstable. It's one of the poorest and least-developed regions of Afghanistan.
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Tuesday's landslide struck early in the morning in the province's Khawahan district, near Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan. The isolated area is located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the provincial capital, Faizabad.
There are no roads leading to it and "the only way to reach it is by helicopter," Adeeb said. "We won't be able to get there today. We are preparing to go to the area and are waiting for the choppers to take us there."
The deputy head of Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, Mohammad Islam Sayas, said initial reports suggest the avalanche struck only one village but it was likely to have been completely wiped out.
"Our emergency team is trying to get to the scene, and have requested the Defense Ministry to provide us with choppers as that is the only way to get there," Sayas said.
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Badakhshan is in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges. Unchecked environmental degradation and deforestation across large parts of Afghanistan contribute to a growing problem of landslides when winter snows melt and seasonal rains begin.
Afghanistan has suffered through some three decades of war since the Soviet invasion in 1979. But natural disasters such as landslides, floods and avalanches have taken a toll on a country with little infrastructure or development outside of its major cities.
In May 2014, a massive landslide in Badakhshan province killed some 350 people in a remote region there. Another Afghan landslide in 2012 killed 71 people.
And in February, almost 200 people died in an avalanche in the Panjshir Valley, not far from the capital, Kabul. Heavy winter snowfall made it difficult for relief workers to reach many villagers who were stranded on their rooftops for days without food or water.
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