Karzai pledges aid to victims of Afghan landslide

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday toured the site of last week’s horrific landslide in the country’s remote northeast, pledging to provide relief to families displaced by the disaster that killed hundreds of people.

Karzai’s office said he met the victims in the village of Abi Barik in Badakhshan province, where around 700 families were forced to flee their homes due to the possibility of further landslides and flooding.

During the visit, Karzai spoke with villagers being housed in tents and also promised to rebuild homes for the landslide’s survivors.

Aid groups and the government have rushed to the remote province bordering Tajikistan and China with food, shelter and water. But those affected have complained that help has been slow to arrive.

Authorities have yet to provide an exact figure on the number of people killed in the May 2 landslide, and estimates have ranged from 250 to 2,700. Officials say it will be impossible to dig up all the bodies buried deep under a sea of mud.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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