At least 190 dead, 4 000 houses damaged or destroyed as devastating floods hit Parwan, Afghanistan

The death toll from a week of severe flooding in Parwan, Afghanistan, has reached at least 190 on Tuesday, September 1, 2020. Scores of people were injured, about 4 000 houses were damaged or destroyed, and many others are still missing, leaving the victims' families devastated.

The floods started last Tuesday, August 25, after heavy rains struck northern Parwan Province, affecting the city of Charikar the most.

Raging waters dislocated thousands of boulders that destroyed houses and buried people under the rubble. 

Initial reports showed that 121 people died while 136 others were injured, according to deputy spokesman Rahmatullah Haidari.

As of September 1, at least 190 fatalities have been reported and 170 injured, with the number of deaths expected to further rise.

"Our rescue teams are removing rubble at the sites and looking for more possible dead bodies," said state minister for disaster management, Ghulam Bahawudin Jilani. 

He added that overall, 1 055 houses have been completely destroyed, while almost 3 000 were partially damaged. 

"Rescue teams are still in the area and searching for the missing bodies," Wahida Shakhar noted, the governor's spokesperson.

Officials, together with the state ministry for disaster management, assured that trapped victims are receiving ground and air support in the affected areas.

Jalaluddin Naseri, director of national heritage protection at Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency, said barren mountainsides like the ones in Parwan often lead to rainwaters gushing rapidly, resulting in the destruction of soil that triggers floods.

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