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At least 50 people, mostly women and children, have died in flash floods in the north of the country Afghanistan Baghlan province.
The number was confirmed by Hedayatullah Hamdard, head of the provincial department of natural disaster management, who said it could increase in the coming days.
Emergency personnel were still “searching for any possible victims under the mud and rubble, with the help of security forces from the national army and police,” he said.
Heavy seasonal rain caused the flooding and residents were unprepared for the sudden surge of water, he said, adding: “The weather is very gloomy at the moment and it may rain again.”
Dozens of tents, blankets and food have been provided to those who lost their homes, the official said.
Videos on social media showed huge streams of muddy water flooding roads – and bodies shrouded in white and black cloth.
In one clip, children are crying and a group of men look at the floodwaters, where pieces of broken wood and debris from homes can be seen.
From the middle of April this year the flood killed about 100 people in 10 of Afghanistanprovinces, with no region spared according to authorities.
Agricultural land is flooded in a country where 80% of more than 40 million people depend on agriculture for survival.
Afghanistan – which had a relatively dry winter, making it difficult for the soil to absorb rainfall – is vulnerable to the climate crisis.
Ravaged by four decades of war, it is one of the poorest countries in the world and, according to scientists, one of the least prepared to face the effects of global warming.
Afghanistan is responsible for just 0.06 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but ranks sixth on the list of countries most at risk from the climate crisis, experts say.
Half of its population lives below the poverty line, and 15 million people experience food insecurity, according to the World Bank.
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