Twelve dead and 40 missing in a flood

2023-07-23 13:01:50

At least 12 people have died and 40 are missing in Afghanistan after a flash flood caused by torrential rains, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

“We have learned with great sadness that twelve of our compatriots have (perished) and forty others are missing,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, adding that “financial losses” are also to be deplored. The spokesperson added that emergency aid has been sent to the scene of the disaster, in the Jalrez district of the province of Maidan Wardakin the center of the country.

Although Afghanistan is located at the western edge of the Asian monsoon, flash floods occur regularly during the wet season, when torrential rains pound dry riverbeds.