Heavy Rains Set Off Flash Floods, Killing 33 People in Afghanistan

 Afghan people wait to cross a flooded area in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on April 13, 2024, after a flash flood following a heavy rainfall. (AFP)
Afghan people wait to cross a flooded area in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on April 13, 2024, after a flash flood following a heavy rainfall. (AFP)
TT

Heavy Rains Set Off Flash Floods, Killing 33 People in Afghanistan

 Afghan people wait to cross a flooded area in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on April 13, 2024, after a flash flood following a heavy rainfall. (AFP)
Afghan people wait to cross a flooded area in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on April 13, 2024, after a flash flood following a heavy rainfall. (AFP)

Heavy flooding from seasonal rains in Afghanistan has killed at least 33 people and injured 27 others in three days, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday.

Abdullah Janan Saiq, the Taliban’s spokesman for the State Ministry for Natural Disaster Management, said Sunday that flash floods hit the capital, Kabul, and several other provinces across the country.

He added more than 600 houses were either partially or completely destroyed while around 200 livestock perished.

The flooding also damaged around 800 hectares of agricultural land, and more than 85 kilometers (53 miles) of roads, Saiq said.

Western Farah, Herat, southern Zabul and Kandahar are among the provinces that suffered the most damage, he added.

The weather department has warned that more rain is expected in the coming days in most of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.



Four Killed in Helicopter Crash at Turkish Hospital

A US AH-64 Apache helicopter. Reuters file photo
A US AH-64 Apache helicopter. Reuters file photo
TT

Four Killed in Helicopter Crash at Turkish Hospital

A US AH-64 Apache helicopter. Reuters file photo
A US AH-64 Apache helicopter. Reuters file photo

Four people were killed in southwest Türkiye on Sunday when an ambulance helicopter collided with a hospital building and crashed into the ground.
The helicopter was taking off from the Mugla Training and Research Hospital, carrying two pilots, a doctor and another medical worker, the health ministry said in a statement.
Mugla's regional governor, Idris Akbiyik, told reporters the helicopter first hit the fourth floor of the hospital building before crashing into the ground. No one inside the building or on the ground was hurt. The cause of the accident, which took place during heavy fog, was being investigated.
Footage from the site showed debris from the crash scattered around the area outside the hospital building, with several ambulances and emergency teams at the scene.