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Ghani terms Panjshir avalanche casualties a national tragedy, call on people for support
AT Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The death toll from the deadly incident of avalanches in different parts of the country has increased to more than 200 people, mostly in central Panjshir province, which has witnessed heavy snowfalls in past few days.
The deputy chief of Afghanistan Natural Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA), Mohammad Aslam Sipas, said the avalanches have claimed 165 lives in Panjshir. But the deputy governor of the province recently told media that the death toll in the province has reached 187 people.
Sipas said that the latest figure about casualties of avalanches countrywide is 233 people. He told this to Radio Azadi on Friday.
He added that they have kicked off sending assistance to avalanches-hit areas including Panjshir and other provinces.
According to him, nearly Afs100 million has been sent by the ANDMA to different provinces to help the victim families.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Friday visited the avalanches-hit province, Panjshir to extend his heartfelt condolences with victim families.
The Presidential Palace said in a statement that the president attended a session in Bazarak, the capital city of Panjshir, where the provincial governor briefed President Ghani about the number of victims and those who have been provided assistance by the government.
A resident of Panjshir talked on behalf of the victims’ families and called for serious attention of the leaders of the national unity government to help the avalanches-hit areas.
The Chief Executive of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, thanked the president for helping and assisting all avalanches-hit areas and victims in all over the country.
President Ghani during the meeting extended his heartfelt condolences to the victim families and prayed for the departed souls of the victims of the avalanches.
He provided Afs20 million to victims of the avalanches in Panjshir, and said all the people of Afghanistan were feeling the pain of Panjshir residents, and the incident was a national tragedy.
