Avalanches and flash floods claimed at least 129 lives across Afghanistan with central Panjsher province appearing to be the worst hit, said officials on Thursday.
The avalanches and flash floods claimed loss of lives in Panjsher, Nuristan, Parwan, Takhar, Laghman, Nangarhar and Baghlan provinces of Afghanistan.
Acting governor for Panjsher, Abdul Rahman Kabiri told media, "So far 90 people in various parts of the valley had been killed as a result of massive avalanches triggered by two days of snowfall, which had blocked all roads." He confirmed that 37 people were retrieved dead from beneath the snow in Hesa-i-Doyem district, 27 in Hesa-i-Awal, 20 in Paryan district and the rest in areas near Parakh, the provincial capital.
The governor's spokesman of eastern Nuristan province, Musa Shami, confirmed that a family in Mandol district lost 14 members to an avalanche.
Avalanches in central Parwan and northern Takhar provinces killed at least 15 people, including women and children, said officials. At least ten people were reportedly killed by flash floods unleashed by heavy rains in eastern Nangarhar and Laghman provinces.
The spokesman for Laghman governor, Sarhadi Zwak said, the floods killed four people, destroyed dozens of homes and washed away hundreds of acres of agriculture land in the province.
Nangarhar government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said flash floods erupted in Sara Rud, Behsud, Chaparhar and Lalpura districts overnight, drowning four children in Behsud district's Zangon area and inundating many areas.
The Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority said that avalanches caused by the heavy winter snow also killed hundreds of household animals and blocked roads connecting provinces.
A large number of people have been killed and rescuers searched for those buried beneath snow with their hands. Afghan, President Ashraf Ghani in a statement said he was "saddened by news of the avalanches and flooding across the country." He said he had ordered urgent assessments of the extent of damage and offered his condolences to the families of the dead.