Mudslides and floods have killed at least 15 people and 40 others are missing in the southern Tajik town of Kulob, according to the Tajikistan Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense.
“Seven people have been reported dead so far, including four children. All these people drowned. At least eight more people were found dead by their relatives and buried immediately,” Munira Nazariyeva, a spokesperson for the emergencies committee, told IRIN in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on 8 May.
Recent heavy rains in the Central Asian republic caused on 7 May an overflow of the small river Tebalai in Kulob, which is in the southern province of Khatlon, close to the Afghan border and about 195km southeast of Dushanbe. Thousands have reportedly been made homeless by the disaster in this town of some 100,000 people.
“More than 1,500 houses were damaged, completely or partly destroyed, in Kulob and nearby villages. Also, 12 bridges were destroyed and several schools and other municipal buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged,” Nazariyeva said.
Local authorities estimate that the mudslides and floods have caused more than US$100 million-worth of damage.
Kulob’s streets have been transformed into fast-flowing rivers of muddy water, as shown on Tajik TV, making it difficult for residents to cross. Tajik president Imomali Rakhmon visited the town and instructed local authorities to provide aid immediately to victims.
Oxfam and the International Committee of the Red Cross have begun to provide emergency aid such as tents, warm clothes and hot meals to those affected.
On 11 and 12 April, several villages in Baljuvon, Muminabad, Shurabad and Vose districts in Khatlon Province were badly affected by floods and mudflows and again by heavy rains and wind on 17 April, according to the Rapid Emergency Assessment and Coordination Team (REACT), a body comprising government institutions, UN agencies and international and local NGOs .
In May 2009, 18 people were killed by floods and mudslides after heavy rains in Tajikistan. In 2010, before the recent flooding in Kulob, 17 people had died in natural disasters such as avalanches and rockslides.
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“Seven people have been reported dead so far, including four children. All these people drowned. At least eight more people were found dead by their relatives and buried immediately,” Munira Nazariyeva, a spokesperson for the emergencies committee, told IRIN in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on 8 May.
Recent heavy rains in the Central Asian republic caused on 7 May an overflow of the small river Tebalai in Kulob, which is in the southern province of Khatlon, close to the Afghan border and about 195km southeast of Dushanbe. Thousands have reportedly been made homeless by the disaster in this town of some 100,000 people.
“More than 1,500 houses were damaged, completely or partly destroyed, in Kulob and nearby villages. Also, 12 bridges were destroyed and several schools and other municipal buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged,” Nazariyeva said.
Local authorities estimate that the mudslides and floods have caused more than US$100 million-worth of damage.
Kulob’s streets have been transformed into fast-flowing rivers of muddy water, as shown on Tajik TV, making it difficult for residents to cross. Tajik president Imomali Rakhmon visited the town and instructed local authorities to provide aid immediately to victims.
Oxfam and the International Committee of the Red Cross have begun to provide emergency aid such as tents, warm clothes and hot meals to those affected.
On 11 and 12 April, several villages in Baljuvon, Muminabad, Shurabad and Vose districts in Khatlon Province were badly affected by floods and mudflows and again by heavy rains and wind on 17 April, according to the Rapid Emergency Assessment and Coordination Team (REACT), a body comprising government institutions, UN agencies and international and local NGOs .
In May 2009, 18 people were killed by floods and mudslides after heavy rains in Tajikistan. In 2010, before the recent flooding in Kulob, 17 people had died in natural disasters such as avalanches and rockslides.
rk/at/ed
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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