Afghanistan landslide: Day of mourning declared Skip to main content

Afghanistan landslide: Day of mourning declared

David Loyn describes "tragic scenes" from an Afghan hillside, as landslide survivors fight over bread

Related Stories

The Afghan government has declared a day of national mourning for hundreds of people killed when a mudslide engulfed their village on Friday.

Badakhshan provincial governor Shah Waliullah Adib told the BBC there was now no hope for more than 2,000 people believed buried in their homes.

Officials formally ended the search for survivors on Saturday.

Mechanical diggers had left Ab Barik village without being used because the site was inaccessible.

The BBC's David Loyn says it is unlikely that there will be any serious effort made to recover the bodies.

Metres of mud

“Start Quote

I witnessed an argument between a large group of men over a sack of bread”
image of David Loyn David Loyn BBC News, Ab Barik
At least 2,000 people were in their homes when a mountain collapsed and covered the area in mud and rocks. 

A further 600 people are also missing after rushing to help with the rescue effort and being caught in a second landslide.

Rudimentary efforts by locals to dig into the soft mud with shovels were quickly abandoned.
A few hundred survivors have spent a second night out in the open, although blankets, tents and basic food aid have now arrived.
Afghan villagers gather at the site of a landslide at the Argo district in Badakhshan province, - 3 May 2014 Locals who rushed to help with the rescue efforts were caught by a second landslide in the area
An Afghan woman with her children stands near her tent at the site of a landslide at the Argo district in Badakhshan - 3 May 2014 Hundreds of people have been left homeless after the landslide
Survivors sit with their possessions near the site of Friday's landslide that buried Ab Barik village in Badakhshan province, north-eastern Afghanistan, 3 May 2014 The affected area is in one of Afghanistan's poorest regions
 
Correspondents say they have demanded that government officials resettle them elsewhere because they do not want to return to the village where so many lie buried.

"We cannot continue the search and rescue operation any more, as the houses are under metres of mud," Mr Adib said.

Online reaction

image of Bilal Sarwary  
Bilal Sarwary BBC News, Kabul
 
There has been an unprecedented response from young Afghans across the country on Facebook to the landslide in Badakhshan. In Pashto, Dari and English, they are writing: "Badakhshan we are with you, we are mourning your sorrow".

Others have changed their profile pictures to the remote village of Ab Barik - now the main topic being discussed among a majority of Afghans.

Funds have been set up for victims by many Afghans in and outside the country.
Others on Facebook have castigated what they call a slow government response and for failing to warn people in the province.

Senior Afghan officials have also been castigated after group photos of them visiting the affected areas appeared on Facebook, showing some laughing.

"We will offer prayers for the victims and make the area a mass grave."
'Absolutely devastating'
 
Heavy rain is believed to have triggered the two landslides, which hit on Friday morning.
Friday is a day of rest in Afghanistan, meaning whole families would have been at home at the time.

"The scale of this landslide is absolutely devastating, with an entire village practically wiped away," said Richard Danziger, from the International Organization for Migration, which is providing aid to the village.

"Hundreds of families have lost everything and are in immense need of assistance."
One survivor, Zia ul-Haq, told reporters: "My family, including my child and all my belongings are buried here."

Mountainous Badakhshan, which borders Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, is one of the poorest regions in Afghanistan.
map

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27273684

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more