Saturday, 03 May 2014 09:36
At least 350 people have been killed and many more are missing, the UN says, after a landslide hit the north-east Afghan province of Badakhshan.
Hundreds of homes were buried under mud and rocks when a section of a mountain collapsed following torrential rain.
Rescuers have reached the area and are searching for survivors.
Much of north and east Afghanistan has been hit by heavy rain in recent days, and some 150 people have died in flooding.
"The number of deceased has increased to 350 and significant displacement is expected," the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.
"The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is helping... local authorities to rescue those still trapped."
Tonnes of mudLocal officials say that more than 2,000 people are missing.
About 1,000 houses were affected - 300 of them buried immediately after the side of a mountain gave way.
As it was Friday morning, a day of rest in Afghanistan, people were at home and whole families were lost under tonnes of mud.
Badakhshan police commander Fazludeen Ayaz told the BBC that all of the village of Hargu - home to 215 families - was covered by earth and rock.
He said it was unlikely that anyone would be rescued alive from under the rubble and that even if there was rescue equipment available in the remote area, it would be difficult to dig people out.
RemoteThe BBC's Qurbon Ali Hamzi in Badakhshan says it is still raining and there are fears of further landslides.
Badakhshan is in the most remote and mountainous part of the country, bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan.
Searching for survivors is a huge task, our correspondent adds.
The governor of Badakhshan province, Shah Waliullah Adeeb, told AP news agency that rescue crews did not have enough equipment and appealed for shovels.
"It's physically impossible right now," Mr Adeeb said. "We don't have enough shovels; we need more machinery.''
He said that residents of nearby villages had been evacuated amid concerns about further landslides.
Another, smaller landslide was reported in Badakhshan on Thursday.
Friday, 02 May 2014 10:06
In Pictures: The plight of the Rohingya |
Many Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar are still displaced after ethnic clashes drove them from their homes.
Andrew Stanbridge Last updated: 20 Jan 2014 21:01
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Sittwe, Myanmar - A year and a half ago, an outbreak of violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims here in Sittwe, Myanmar, started a struggle that drove nearly 150,000 Rohingya from their homes and into hastily put-together camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Violent attacks continue to occur across Rakhine state, forcing more and more Rohingya into areas of refuge. Conditions inside the dusty camps are sparse. Those lucky enough to have been allocated official aid buildings live with 10 families in each long house. Those that are still waiting to be assigned space from the government are left to create makeshift shelters out of whatever they can salvage, whether it be empty food bags or dried rice stalks. Temperatures can vary drastically, from searing daytime heat to cold nights and monsoon rains. Access to clean water and food is limited and, although toilets facilities were some of the first things to be built, raw sewage still runs through open waterways. There are frequent disagreements between the police, largely members of the Burmese ethnic majority, and the Rohingya IDPs. These confrontations sometimes turn violent and are often only quelled when the army intervenes. |
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/Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
One of the first and largest IDP camps outside of Sittwe, Myanmar, where the first wave of Rohingyans fled when Buddhist mobs began to attack their villages, burning homes to the ground. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
A displaced Rohingya family eats a meal inside of their shelter. Rations given by aid groups barely cover enough for one meal a day. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
A Rohingyan child naps inside a shelter provided by aid groups and the Myanmar government. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
Many of the Rohingya that have fled their villages have not been given shelter by the government, and have begun to create their own encampments using whatever materials are available. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
Rohingyan boys collect firewood in one of the IDP camps outside of Sittwe, Myanmar. Temperatures can vary drastically from searing daytime heat to cold nights and monsoon rains.
/Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
Rohingya men pray in an under-construction mosque. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
A policeman stands guard on a railway line that is also one of the entrances to an IDP camp. Rohingyans in the camps are not permitted to leave the encampments.
/Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
Myanmar police on patrol in one of the Rohingyan camps. Animosity towards the police is very high. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
A Myanma policeman at the entrance to the camps shows off his grenade launcher. Many of their weapons are from the World War II era. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
During one confrontation between displaced Rohingya and police, several IDPs were severely injured when police opened fire. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
A gunshot victim waits to be evacuated by the Red Cross. Medical resources inside the camps are little to none and the Red Cross brings some of the wounded and sick into its small facilities in the town of Sittwe. /Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera
A Rohingyan man holds bullets and casings left behind after police shot at a mob of Rohingyan IDP's who were demanding the dead body of one of their villagers be released from police custody.
Follow photographer Andrew Stanbridge on Twitter: @stanbridgefoto http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/01/pictures-rohingya-2014120155550685850.html |