According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the rescue work in a landslide hit village of Badakhshan province of northwest Afghanistan is likely to get affected on Monday and Tuesday due to a Western Disturbance which will cause another spell of heavy rain in the region.
The latest weather update however, indicates that the weather will become much better on Tuesday compared to Monday but rescue workers have to be on their toes as another Western Disturbance is likely to bring lots of rain on Thursday.
More than 2000 people have died in the twin landslides on Friday. According to the provincial governor of Badakhshan Shah Waliullah Adeeb, in the first incident, 300 to 400 homes were swallowed in the village where an estimated 2,700 people lived. When as many as 600 people from a nearby village came to help dig people out, another landslide swept through, burying most, if not all, of the rescuers.
Sunday was the national mourning day in Afghanistan and now efforts are focused on about 4,000 survivors and evacuees. United Nations humanitarian groups are rounding up food, water and medical supplies. A NATO team is sending a C-130 transport plane from Kabul airport with supplies, including tents and blankets, officials say.
Avalanches, floods and landslides are a painfully common feature of Afghan life, especially in the north, though the scale of the disaster in Badakhshan pipped all the natural calamities that have hit the country in the recent past.
