호우로 오지마을에 '날벼락'…350명 사망·최소 2천명 실종
아프가니스탄 동북부 바다크샨주(州)에서 대규모 산사태가 일어나 300여명이 숨지고 적어도 2천명이 실종됐다.
샤흐 왈리울라 아딥 주지사는 2일(현지시간) 바다크샨주 호보바리크에서 산사태가 발생해 전체 마을의 3분의 1에 해당하는 300가구가 매몰되고 주민 2천명 이상이 실종됐다고 말했다고 AFP통신 등 외신이 전했다.
그는 "현지 주민들의 보고를 토대로 한 초기조사 결과 산사태로 숨진 희생자는 다수의 여성과 어린이를 포함해 2천500명에 달할 수도 있다"고 덧붙였다.
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Landslides kill at least 2,000 people in Afghanistan
At least 2,000 people were killed by landslides in northeastern Afghanistan in the worst natural disaster on record for the war-torn nation, an UN official said.
The accident site in Badakhshan province has been declared a mass grave after the village of Ab-e-Barak was buried under 40 meters (130 feet) of mud and rocks, said Governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb. An additional 4,000 people have been displaced or relocated from villages at risk, according to Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Gaitanis provided the latest death toll today.
Afghanistan, with a population of about 31 million, is one of the poorest countries in Asia, weakened by decades of warfare and ethnic rivalries. The accident comes as the nation prepares for its first democratic transfer of power since the U.S. ousted the Taliban in 2001. Results of the first round of elections are due May 14.
The landslides were triggered by heavy rains in Badakhshan province bordering Tajikistan, where melting snow and seasonal showers make the region vulnerable to such calamities. The toll is more than double that of the worst natural disaster recorded in Afghanistan in May 1991 when floods killed 728 people, according to the international emergency disaster database of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.
Hundreds of volunteers were at the scene trying to dig out victims using shovels and other hand tools, according to Adeeb.
"We have no modern machinery,” he said. “It takes months to finish the work by using shovels.” As many as 2,700 people may be buried there, Adeeb said. (Bloomberg)
