A dam ruptured in southern Afghanistan early on Tuesday, unleashing floods that killed at least six people and washed away hundreds of houses and shops, the provincial governor said.
The United States military sent Black Hawk helicopters to help with rescue operations after the Bandi Sultan dam burst and swamped Ghazni city, 150km south of Kabul, and the surrounding area.
”We have reports of at least six people who have died in floods,” Ghazni province governor Asadullah Khalid said, adding that it is impossible to confirm exact casualties because roads to the affected region are flooded.
”The damage due to the flood is huge. Hundreds of shops have been destroyed in the city of Ghazni, thousands of hectares of agricultural land has been washed away and hundreds of livestock have died,” he added.
Aid workers were installing a camp to house 100 families displaced by the rising waters, said Mohammed Ghaus Awlia, head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
”I have witnessed hundreds of metal containers which were being used as grocery and clothes shops floating towards the river from the city of Ghazni,” he said.
”Witnesses say they have seen around five bodies floating in the water but for exact figures of casualties we have to wait till the water recedes,” he added.
US-led forces stationed in Afghanistan to hunt down Taliban militants said they have dispatched military helicopters to help.
”A dam did burst in Ghazni — we sent four Black Hawk helicopters,” said Lieutenant Cindy Moore, a spokeswoman for the US forces in Afghanistan.
Flooding caused by melting snow and torrential rains has already left about 200 Afghans dead in recent weeks. Hundreds more died from disease, starvation and accidents during the country’s worst winter in a decade. — Sapa-AFP