47 Dead in Heavy Rain, Floods in Northern Afghanistan

People remove debris from a house damaged by the flood in Firozkoh the capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
People remove debris from a house damaged by the flood in Firozkoh the capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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47 Dead in Heavy Rain, Floods in Northern Afghanistan

People remove debris from a house damaged by the flood in Firozkoh the capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
People remove debris from a house damaged by the flood in Firozkoh the capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

At least 47 people have died after continued heavy rain and flooding in northern Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday, a day after a similar number were killed in a central province.
Shamsudden Mohammedi, head of the information department for Faryab province in the north, told Reuters at least 300 hundred houses were destroyed, based on initial reports.
On Saturday, at least 50 died in the central province of Ghor, said Mawlawi Abdul Hai Zaeem, the head of the province's information department.
Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters, and the United Nations considers it one of countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Last week, flash floods caused by heavy rains devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 315 and injuring more than 1,600, authorities said on Sunday.
On Wednesday, a helicopter used by the Afghan air force crashed due to "technical issues" during attempts to recover the bodies of people who had fallen into a river in Ghor province, killing one and injuring 12, the defense ministry said.



South Korea Says Will Send Jeju Air Crash Black Box to US

Officials take part in an investigation at the site where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on January 1, 2025. (Photo by YONHAP / AFP)
Officials take part in an investigation at the site where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on January 1, 2025. (Photo by YONHAP / AFP)
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South Korea Says Will Send Jeju Air Crash Black Box to US

Officials take part in an investigation at the site where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on January 1, 2025. (Photo by YONHAP / AFP)
Officials take part in an investigation at the site where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on January 1, 2025. (Photo by YONHAP / AFP)

South Korean investigators probing a Jeju Air crash which killed 179 people in the worst aviation disaster on its soil said Wednesday they will send one of the retrieved black boxes to the United States for analysis.

The plane was carrying 181 people from Thailand on Sunday when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before hitting a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except two flight attendants pulled from the burning wreckage.

South Korean and US investigators, including from Boeing, have been combing the crash site in southwestern Muan since the disaster Sunday.

"The damaged flight data recorder has been deemed unrecoverable for data extraction domestically," said South Korea's deputy minister for civil aviation, Joo Jong-wan.

"It was agreed today to transport it to the United States for analysis in collaboration with the US National Transportation Safety Board."

Joo earlier said both of the plane's black boxes were retrieved, and for the cockpit voice recorder, "the initial extraction has already been completed".

"Based on this preliminary data, we plan to start converting it into audio format," he said, meaning investigators would be able to hear the pilots' final communications.

The second black box, the flight data recorder, "was found with a missing connector", AFP quoted Joo as saying.

"Experts are currently conducting a final review to determine how to extract data from it."

Officials initially pointed to a bird strike as a possible cause of the disaster, but they have since said the probe was also examining a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which dramatic video showed the Boeing 737-800 colliding with before bursting into flames.

They also said that a special inspection of all Boeing 737-800 models operated by local carriers was examining their landing gear after questions over a possible mechanical failure in the crash.

The ongoing inspections are "focusing mainly on the landing gear, which failed to deploy properly in this case", said the director general for aviation safety policy, Yoo Kyeong-soo.

Local media reported the landing gear had deployed properly on Jeju Air Flight 2216's first failed landing attempt at Muan airport before failing on the second.

The issue "will likely be examined by the Accident Investigation Board through a comprehensive review of various testimonies and evidence during the investigation process", the ministry of land, which oversees civil aviation, said at a briefing.