Iran Sympathizes with Afghan People over Devastating Floods
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed condolences to the Afghan people and government over the death of scores of people in a devastating flash flood in the country’s mountainous and remote north.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham expressed Iran’s sympathy to the flood-stuck nation, and offered condolences to the bereaved families of the victims.
She also announced that Iran is ready to offer any assistance, including contributing to search and rescue operations, to the flood-hit country.
The statement comes after more than 80 bodies have been found in Afghanistan's Baghlan province after flash floods that hit the region, a provincial official said Sunday, as police and villagers scoured the rugged terrain for missing people.
Lt. Fazel Rahman, the police chief in the Guzirga i-Nur district of Baghlan province, said the death toll from Friday's flash flooding had climbed to 81 from 54. The flood destroyed some 850 houses across several villages and damaged more than 1,000, leaving thousands of people in need of shelter, food, water and medicine, Rahman said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered urgent assistance to flood-affected families in the province, his office said in a statement.