35 bodies found in Sarobi; rescue bid underway

KABUL): Flash floods killed 35 people, wounded eight others and destroyed more than 200 houses besides damaging hundreds of acres of crops in the Sarobi district of Kabul, officials said on Sunday.

An Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) official, Ghulam Farooq, told Pajhwok Afghan News the figures were based on a preliminary report from a team of rescuers sent to the flood-hit district.

He indicated the death toll could increase as a number of residents remained missing in the wake of the flooding that affected at least 300 households.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society had already transported relief items to the town and ANDMA would follow suit soon, Farooq added.

In Kabul, the Ministry of Defence announced more than 300 personnel of the 201^st Selab Military Corps had been dispatched along with bulldozers, loaders and cranes to the district. They have delivered necessary assistance to the marooned individuals.

Four villages were devastated by the rain-induced floods, a tribal elder, Awal Gul, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Saturday. “As of 2.30pm, reports from different areas spoke of 96 people, including women and children, swept away by the flooding triggered by torrential rains.”

President Hamid Karzai has voiced his deep anguish over the flood-wrought devastation. He directed the authorities concerned to rush relief supplies to the affected areas.

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