Floods kill 4, damage Khost-Gardez highway

KHOST CITY/GARDEZ (PAN): Flash floods killed four people and swept away sections of highways in southeastern Khost and Paktia provinces, officials said on Monday.

Residents said heavy rains a day earlier led to flooding in various low-lying areas and damaged at various locations the Khost-Gardez highway and partly destroyed a huge bridge on the route near the Shawak district.

The Khost governor’s house said in a statement the Khost-Gardez highway had been closed against vehicular movements after it was damaged at several locations by the floods.

The floods threatened a number of bridges and culverts on the route, it said, appealing the central government, especially the Public Works Ministry, to initiate efforts at repairing the damaged sections.

The provincial government’s spokesman, Mubariz Zadran, told Pajhwok Afghan News three women were among four people killed by the floods on the outskirts of the provincial capital in Matoon and Ismailkhel areas. Another two persons sustained injuries.

A driver, Mohammad Khan, said the floodwaters had comprehensively damaged a big bridge on the Khost-Gardez highway near the Shawak district.

Paktia deputy governor Abdul Wali Sahi said the floods hit several areas in the provincial capital, Gardez, and nearby districts, inundating hundreds of acres of farmland and some highways. He said official teams had been dispatched to the affected areas in order to assess the damage.

Two days ago, floods left at least 23 people dead and half a dozen injured in Kabul and other provinces.

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