At least 260 people were found dead Saturday and 300 families are still missing in a mudslide in the north-eastern Afghanistan village of Ab-e-Barik in Argu district, an official said, according to dpa. The rescue operation is ongoing, and daily essentials are being distributed to some 700 families evacuated from the affected area. The disaster occurred on Friday after torrential rainfall, burying the entire village in mud. "260 bodies were registered after being identified," said Gul Ahmad Bedar, the deputy governor for Badakshan province, where the village is located. "300 families, equals to some 2,000 to 2,100 people, are missing, buried under heaps of mud," Bedar said, adding that the death toll was expected to increase. Provincial Fazluddin Ayyar confirmed that about 2,000 people had been evacuated from the area, and that more than 300 houses and large areas of farmland had been damaged. "We (have) sent foodstuffs, warm clothes, tents and medicine to the victims of the disaster, and the health department established a mobile clinic," said Ayyar, adding that international relief organizations had also started helping the victims. A tribal elder who was in the area to help the victims said that "everyone has lost a member of (their) family ... or friends." "I saw quite a tragedy. More than 2,000 people are still under tonnes of mud, while around 300 ones have been found dead," Abdul Maroof Rasekh told dpa over the phone from Ab-e-Barik village. Rasekh said most of the people died while rushing to help the victims. "There were two mudslides. A number of people died in the first incident, and the second one buried those who had come for help," he said. "The weather is polluted and many people we fear will die due to illness as they are living in an open area."
