India offers help as Afghanistan faces natural disaster

By Isha Sahni / Nikita Sharma

Kabul/New Delhi, May 3

Recently, Afghanistan was struck by the worst natural disaster. The war-torn country’s north eastern part especially the Badakhshan province faced a landslide triggered by heavy rains.

Declared as a mass grave, the accident site in Badakhshan province was buried under 40 meters (130 feet) of mud and rocks, said Governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb. With 2,000 people declared death and n additional 4,000 displaced or relocated from villages at risk, the situation is very tensed according to Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Gaitanis provided the latest death toll today.

Afghanistan is not technologically developed and using shovels would make it very difficult to complete the process of rescue. A lot of countries have come to help the state. Even India Saturday offered assistance in relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Rescue officials also said that the site may become a massive grave as the enormous amount of rubble is making the recovery of bodies almost impossible.

“The latest report by the provincial governor is that at least 2,000 have died in the landslides, buried under at least 10 metres of mud and debris,” the UN mission in the country said.

“The immediate focus is on approximately 700 families (4,000+ people) displaced either directly as a result of this slide or as a precautionary measure from villages assessed to be at further risk. Key needs for them are water, medical support, counselling support, food and emergency shelter,” the statement said.

“A memorial ceremony is planned for later today and the site is expected to be designated as a mass grave. Also, second vice president Mohammad Karim Khalil is visiting today,” it said.

All the relevant UN agencies together with the Afghan Red Crescent Society and NGO partners are already at the site since Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday expressed shock at the devastating landslide and offered India’s assistance in relief and rehabilitation efforts.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened by the devastating natural disaster that has struck Badakhshan province in Afghanistan,” he said in a statement in New Delhi.

“India stands ready to provide whatever assistance and support that we can for rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts to help the victims of this enormous disaster,” the prime minister said.