Death toll from flash flood rises to 75

KABUL): The death toll from monsoon flooding that hit nearly a dozen provinces has reached 75, with the most fatalities occurring in Sarobi district of Kabul, officials said on Monday.

Up to 35 people, including women and children, were killed in the disaster in Sarobi, where another 20 were injured and more than 2,000 residential buildings damaged.

Afghanistan Natural Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) official Ghulam Farooq told Pajhwok Afghan News the floods played havoc Kabul, Nangarhar, Laghman, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Khost, Kapisa, Paktika, Paktia, Nuristan and Daikundi provinces.

He said rescuers continued to search for casualties and assess the damage. Around 3,800 acres of agriculture land, two schools, 30 shops, 15 bridges, 17 small dams and 2,500 livestock were lost to the flash floods.

He said so far 300 affected families in Sarobi district had been delivered relief supplies.

ANDMA chief Mohammad Dayem Kakar said the supplies included 300 sacks of rice, 300 carpets, 300 cartons of food such as sugar, oil and beans.

Further supplies would be distributed after exact numbers of affected families were known, he said, adding NGOs had also promised cash assistance to the victims.

Some UN agencies on Sunday pledged providing food and cash to the affected families during a conference, according to Kakar.

President Hamid Karzai has directed civil and military authorities to speed up their efforts at dispatching relief supplies to the marooned families.

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