Rescuers Hunt Missing After Deadly Flood Devastates Eastern Afghanistan

PARUN- Rescue teams and residents searched for around 100 missing people in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday after devastating flash floods swept through Nuristan province, killing at least 23 people and leaving widespread destruction, according to Afghan authorities.

The national disaster management agency and the Nuristan provincial governor’s office said the number of confirmed fatalities had risen following Monday’s flooding, while approximately 100 people remained unaccounted for. The search continued as rescuers struggled to reach people believed trapped beneath mud, rocks and collapsed structures in the provincial capital of Parun.

Residents joined emergency workers in the search effort, using wooden poles, shovels and their bare hands to clear debris. Heavy deposits of mud and massive boulders carried by the floodwaters complicated rescue operations and limited access to affected areas.

An AFP journalist in Parun witnessed dozens of people searching through the rubble of destroyed buildings. Government officials said the town’s mayor and several other local government employees were among those still missing.

Farid Gul Zaheer, a 34-year-old pharmacist, described the flood as unlike anything he had previously experienced. He said the force of the disaster resembled an earthquake, recalling screams from children and residents as he was injured while attempting to flee to higher ground.

The flooding buried shops, damaged commercial buildings and deposited large boulders throughout the town. Heavy machinery, including bulldozers, was being used where possible, although officials said equipment had only limited success in clearing the debris because of the scale of the destruction.

Zakirullah Zaki, manager of the Spogmai Hotel in Parun, said most hotels, markets and shops in the area had been destroyed. Although his hotel remained standing, he said his younger brother had initially been reported missing before later being found.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society said it had deployed dozens of volunteers to support rescue and relief operations. Communications chief Juma Khan Nayel described conditions in the affected area as devastating, saying floodwaters had reached unprecedented levels.

Nayel said volunteers were working largely by hand with shovels while providing emergency food, drinking water and tents to families whose homes had been destroyed.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense said military personnel had also been deployed to assist with rescue and relief efforts. The United Nations said it was conducting assessments to determine the scale of the disaster and humanitarian needs.

Many survivors remained traumatized by the flooding. Zaheer said he had lost all of his possessions and that residents had been unable to sleep following the disaster as they searched for relatives and awaited further news.

The flooding also affected neighboring Pakistan, where the disaster management agency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province reported that 12 people had been killed by heavy rain and flooding.

Between March and April this year, more than 200 people died in flooding and heavy rainfall across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Afghanistan is considered highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with increasingly frequent floods causing repeated humanitarian emergencies. Earlier this month, the head of Afghanistan’s environmental protection agency, Mawlavi Mati-ul-Haq Khalis, said environmental challenges had severely affected the country’s population and contributed to an ongoing humanitarian crisis.