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39 feared dead in Faryab floods

Heavy flooding in the northern Afghan province of Faryab has claimed the lives of at least 39 people, according to local authorities, a UN official confirmed to IRIN in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday. "We are trying to send teams to the area to assess the situation but at the moment we are not sure whether the road mission will be able to get there due to bad weather and roads conditions," spokeswoman for the Office of the Coordinator for Afghanistan, Stephanie Bunker said. The floods affected some 843 families and 323 homes were reported to have been destroyed. More than 2,000 livestock were killed and hundreds of acres of land, canals and bridges were damaged in the Deh Miran area of Faryab. Rain was continuing in the provincial capital, Maimana, causing the local river to burst its banks. "Flooding to this extent has not been seen in years," she explained. The UN, along with the French NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and GOAL, an Irish NGO, were preparing to take helicopters to the affected areas, which also include Qal’a-I-Turdi and Ghulbian, north and east of Bilchiragh city in the province. "The helicopter mission would also be reliant on good weather conditions," Bunker maintained. Initial reports of the flooding were received from the Afghan Red Crescent Society after the local governor requested assistance following the heavy downpours earlier in the week.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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