A disaster management official in the northern province of Baghlan said heavy seasonal rains sparked the flooding, and residents were unprepared for the sudden rush of water.

“The number of dead in today’s flood in Baghlan province has risen to 62,” Hedayatullah Hamdard, the head of the provincial natural disaster management department, told AFP.

The toll “will probably increase” he said, adding that light rain had continued into the night in multiple districts of the province.

Emergency personnel were “searching for any possible victims under the mud and rubble, with the help of security forces from the national army and police”, Hamdard said earlier.

Dozens of tents, blankets and food were provided to those who lost their homes, he added.

Since mid-April, flash flooding and other floods have left about 100 people dead in 10 of Afghanistan’s provinces, with no region entirely spared, according to authorities.

Farmland has been swamped in a country where 80 percent of the more than 40 million people depend on agriculture to survive.

Rains on Friday also caused heavy damages in northeastern Badakhshan province and central Ghor province, officials said.

AMK/PR