TURKISH CHARITY HELPS AFGHANISTAN LANDSLIDE SURVIVORS

Istanbul, 7 Rajab 1435/6 May 2014 (MINA) – Turkey’s IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation continued on Monday to deliver humanitarian aid to families hit by a massive landslide in northeast Afghanistan.

Challenging terrain conditions made the aid and rescue teams use “primitive methods” to deliver the aid packages containing food, rugs, blankets and kitchen utensils, a statement from the Istanbul-based foundation said, Monday.

Over 2,000 are considered dead after a landslide hit a village in Badakhshan province in northern Afghanistan on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

Afghan officials formally stopped the search for survivors and declared the disaster area a “mass grave” on Saturday.

Humanitarian aid supplies continued to arrive from different international aid agencies on Sunday to the victims hit by a mudslide that killed hundreds of people in Afghanistan, officials said.

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Previously, Many local and international organizations, including the World Food Program, Turkey’s IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and the charity organization Save the Children, jumped for support, Haji Abdul Wadood, governor of Argo district in Badakhshan province, told Anadolu Agency.

“The emergency packages that were sent by the IHH for 350 families have arrived in the area,” he said.

“Many countries has pledged humanitarian support to those who lost their family members and homes in the landslide,” Tawab Ghorzang, spokesman for the Independent Directorate for Local Governance, told AA.

Tents have been distributed to them and they get enough food and water, he said.

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Early Friday afternoon, a massive landslide triggered by heavy rainfall engulfed the village of Abe Barik in northern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.

At least 300 families have been trapped under dirt and mud, whereas only 255 of the dead bodies have been identified so far, but the local authorities estimate that more than 2,100 people [≈ population of Norfolk Island, nation] are dead.

A group of young Afghans in the different parts of the country have also started fund-raising for the survivors. (T/P015/P04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)