FAIZABAD (PAN): The death toll among children from phenomena has reached 22 in the Yawan district of northwestern Badakhshan province, where 15 people were buried under snow avalanches, officials said on Wednesday.

A dozen more children have died of the disease in Yawan over the past three days, raising the death toll to 22, acting Public Health Director Dr. Noor Mohammad Khawari told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Provincial council chief, Zabihullah Attique, voicing deep concern over the deaths, said the fatalities could further increase if the government did not take immediate remedial measures.

The Care of Afghan Families (CAF) organization’s health teams could not reach the area due to the blockade of roads, he said, urging the defence ministry to airlift volunteers to the area.

Governor Dr. Shah Waliullah Adib promised he would contact the defence ministry in Kabul to fly health workers to the district.

Separately, 15 people were buried under snow avalanches in an area between Yaftal Bala and Kohistanat districts, disasters management expert Mohammad Osman Abuzar said. Ten of the trapped people have managed to come out, but five others remain buried.

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