Flash floods kill 153 people in Afghanistan

At least 153 people have lost their lives in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province in flash floods triggered by torrential rains, said Afghan Interior Ministry on Saturday. Spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior Affairs Abdul Mateen Qani in a statement to media said that 153 people have been killed while 138 people have received injuries in the flash floods triggered by torrential rains. The air force has started evacuating people and moved more than 100 injured people to military hospitals, the Taliban Ministry of Defense said. "By announcing the state of emergency in [affected] areas, the Ministry of National Defense has started distributing food, medicine and first aid to the impacted people," it said in a statement. Hedayatullah Hamdard, the head of Baghlan's natural disaster management department said that the death toll will probably increase, adding that light rain had continued into the night in multiple districts of the province. Residents were unprepared for the sudden rush of wa ter set off by the heavy downpour in recent days, he added. Emergency personnel were "searching for any possible victims under the mud and rubble, with the help of security forces from the national army and police", said the official. Over 1,500 homes have been reportedly damaged or destroyed due to the floods. Flash floods have also affected other provinces including northern Takhar province, northeastern Badakhshan province, central Ghor province and western Herat province. Emergency personnel have been deployed to the affected areas and are rushing to rescue injured and stranded people. Source: Kuwait News Agency