Landslide in Afghanistan Leaves Over 2000 Missing

As many 2,000 people are reported to be missing after part of a mountain collapsed on top of a remote village in northeastern Afghanistan this afternoon that is believed to have killed “a least 400 to 500 people,” local officials have said.

A landslide caused by heavy rains engulfed 300 homes at around 1PM local time, then a further collapse crashed down on as many as 600 rescuers who had rushed from the surrounding area to help, provincial governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb told CNN.

Around a third of the village, Hobo Barik Argo in Badakhshan Province, was buried. Adeeb added that local officials said each house would have had between five and seven occupants each. If all had been in their homes at the time, between 1,500 and 2,100 could have been buried under the rubble.

Casualty figures have yet to be released. Badakhshan's deputy police chief Colonel Abdul Qadeer Sayad told Reuters that "At least 400 to 500" were still trapped under the landslide and are "all believed to be dead." He added that the death toll may increase still further.

Ari Gaitanis a spokesperson for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said earlier that at least 350 people had been killed.

Adeeb said rescue teams were on the scene, but were completely unprepared to deal with the scale of the disaster and needed more heavy equipment.

"It's physically impossible right now. We don't have enough shovels; we need more machinery," AP reported.

So far only seven survivors have been found, according to Badakshan’s police chief. He told the AP that residents of a nearby village had been evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Afghanistan has been hit by heavy rains recently. Last week, floods in the north of the country killed nearly 150 and left thousands homeless.

Badakhshanin is the remote and mountainous Hindu Kush and borders Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. it was the only Afghani province which wasn’t under Taliban control during their five-year rule and has seen very little insurgent activity since.

Aside from landslides, the province's residents also have to deal with frequent fatal avalanches. Two years ago, as snows melted after a particularly harsh winter, dozens were killed in a number of incidents. In 2010 a major snow slide at the Salang Pass between Badakhshan and Kabul left more than 170 dead.

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Images via Photos by Facebook/Homayoon Rahmani, MRRD