Flash floods leave five dead in Herat

Monitoring Desk

HERA CITY: At least five people died as flash floods hit five districts in Herat province in the west of Afghanistan on Monday, April 15, the provincial governor’s spokesman Jailani Farhad said.

He said the flash floods started on Monday evening after heavy rainfalls during the day. At least 17 others are missing who were traveling in a bus, Farhad said.

The affected areas include the districts of Kohsan, Oba, Karrokh, Shindand and Guzara. Farhad said women and children are also among the victims.

Hundreds of residential houses, thousand acres of agriculture lands and hundreds of livestock has been destroyed, Jelani said.

Meanwhile, parts of Herat-Kandahar highway have been damaged due to flash floods and at the moment the highway is closed for the traffic.

Figures released by Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) on April 8 indicate that flash floods hit at least 13 provinces of Afghanistan.

According to the figures, the flash floods left 108 people dead, 13 missing and 48 wounded. The figures show that 3,005 houses were “completely destroyed” and 8,892 houses were partially damaged.

Meanwhile, the figures show that two schools, 47 small bridges and 224 kilometers of road were partially damaged by flash floods in the provinces.

The provinces affected by floods since the beginning of April include Badakhshan, Takhar, Herat, Faryab, Balkh, Jawzjan, Samangan, Baghlan, Sar-e-Pul, Kunar, Nuristan and Ghor. (TOLOnews)