Landslide in Afghan village kills 10, destroys nearly 300 homes

Two helicopters with a rescue team and emergency aid flew to the north-eastern province of Panjshir where the disaster struck on Wednesday night, officials said.

A landslide destroyed nearly 300 homes, killing at least 10 people, as it swept through an Afghan village where residents were using only basic digging tools to search for survivors, officials said.

Afghan villagers are pictured near the scene in the landslide-hit Aab Bareek village in Argo district of Badakhshan province in May 2014. A landslide hit Peshghor village in Khenj district destroying nearly 300 homes and killing at least 10 people on July 11, 2018. (AFP Photo)

Two helicopters with a rescue team and emergency aid flew to the north-eastern province of Panjshir where the disaster struck on Wednesday night, officials said.

Top priority was to save those trapped in the debris after the landslide hit Peshghor village in Khenj district, Omar Mohammadi, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, said on Thursday.

Several regions of Afghanistan regularly suffer landslides when snow melts in the spring, but deforestation in some parts has increased their frequency.

President Ashraf Ghani, in Brussels for the NATO summit, ordered authorities to provide victims with necessary assistance, his office said in a statement.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)