In north-eastern Afghanistan, at least 52 people have been killed after a huge landslide swept through a village. Nearly 100 homes were destroyed in Khawahan district, Badakhshan province, near Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan yesterday.

A provincial official told that most of those killed were women and children. He said the affected area was not accessible by road due to heavy snow, seriously hampering rescue efforts. The region regularly suffers landslides when snow begins to melt in the spring.

Deforestation in the impoverished region has also been blamed for the growing frequency of landslides. The Deputy Provincial Governor Gul Mohammad Beidar said Central Government was sending helicopters to allow emergency teams to get to the isolated area.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was deeply saddened to hear about the landslide, his office said in a statement. About 350 people died in May last year when a landslide engulfed an entire village in the same province.