Mazar-I-Sharif: A landslide in northern Afghanistan killed at least 350 people on Friday, officials said, with hundreds also feared missing as a major rescue operation was launched to find survivors in villages buried under mud.
The first emergency teams on the scene in Badakhshan province started digging through rocks and dirt as local authorities, the United Nations and the NATO-led military force raced to assess the damage and provide help.
“The number of deceased has increased to 350,” the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement. “A response is being mobilised for those who survived but were displaced, with some partners already on the ground. “(Nato’s) Regional Command in the north in contact with the Afghan National Army in regards to search and rescue efforts.”
“It is a disaster. The landslide has affected around 1,000 families,” Sayed Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, provincial director of the Afghan national disaster management Authority, said.
