MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, April 26 AFP - The death toll from flash floods in northern Afghanistan has risen to more than 100 with many others still missing.
The national disaster management authority said on Saturday that 58 people were killed in Jowzjan province, 32 in Faryab, six in Sar-e-Pul and six others in Badghis as floods struck a large swath of rural communities.
The United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Office (OCHA) said it had reports from provincial officials that 123 people had been killed, with Jowzjan province alone suffering 80 deaths while 6000 people had been displaced.
It said clean water, medical supplies, food and shelter were needed immediately as relief efforts got under way after days of torrential rain.
The floodwaters swept through villages, engulfing thousands of homes and leaving many people seeking safety on the roofs of their mud-brick houses.
"Unfortunately, we have over 100 people killed and dozens of others missing due to flash floods in four northern provinces," National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mohammad Sadeq Sediqqi told AFP.
The Afghan Defence Ministry sent two helicopters to Jowzjan to assist in the rescue of more than 1000 people and carry them to higher ground.
Officials in Faryab province said nearly 2000 houses were washed away and more than 8000 cattle were killed by the floods.
Authorities said food and other emergency supplies were being distributed, as well as cash handouts.
President Hamid Karzai said he was deeply saddened by the loss of life and property, and ordered relief work to be stepped up.
Flooding often occurs during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan, with flimsy mud houses offering little protection against rising water levels.
Two weeks ago, a landslide triggered by heavy rains and a small earthquake swept through two villages in the northern province of Takhar, killing four people and destroying around 100 houses.
In the last major flooding in Afghanistan, 40 people died in August in flash floods in eastern and southeastern provinces and some districts of the capital Kabul.
