Landslide threat over quake hit village

A village in the northern Samanghan province severely devastated by the 5 March earthquake in Afghanistan is still under threat from an unstable cliff which could collapse at any time, a UN official in the Afghan capital, Kabul told IRIN on Monday.

"The situation is very precarious and a team of specialists there have said that the cliff is very fragile and that it is only a question of time before it falls," UN spokeswoman, Stephanie Bunker said.

"It is increasingly a technical problem and a question of how to prevent further damage," she stressed. The Surkundara valley was badly affected after several landslides following the quake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Some 400 families who lost their homes were now being assisted by relief agencies. "They are being provided with materials to help them reconstruct shelter and help restart their livelihoods," she added.

Bunker explained that the situation with the local river in the valley, blocked by falling debris cutting off water supplies to needy villages had eased. "A team have managed to clear out a narrow channel and are using pumping equipment enabling some water to flow," she added.

There are still however, uncertainties regarding the death toll. Some 70 people are feared dead, Bunker confirmed. "It is difficult to estimate the number of casualties in a situation where there is seasonal migration," she said. Early last week, unconfirmed reports suggested that up 150 people had been killed.

The leader of the Afghan administration, Hamid Karzai along with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General, Lakhdar Brahimi, visited the Surkundara valley to listen to the needs of local people, who asked for extra technical expertise and rescue teams.

Extensive damage was also caused by the quake in villages of the northern province of Takhar and northeastern province of Badakhshan, according to a preliminary report, the UN said. More than 340 houses were destroyed, but there were no reports of serious injuries or deaths.

In the Afghan capital Kabul, three people were killed, 13 houses destroyed and 25 buildings severely damaged in the Gulbahar district, according to the UN.