35 die in storm that brought heavy rainfall to eastern Afghanistan, Taliban says

ISLAMABAD -- A storm that brought heavy rainfall to eastern Afghanistan killed at least 35 people on Monday, a Taliban official said.

Many others were injured across Nangarhar province, according to Sediqullah Quraishi, provincial director of the information and culture department.

Among the dead were five members of the same family who were killed when the roof of their house collapsed in Surkh Rod district, Quraishi said. Four other family members were injured.

He said there are women and children among those killed and injured, and that the weather had destroyed many properties and crops in different parts of the province.

Aminullah Sharif, head of the regional hospital in Nangarhar, said that 207 injured people were brought in for treatment from Jalalabad, capital of the province, and nearby districts.

He added that dozens of locals were gathered in the hospital to donate blood for the injured.

Earlier, the World Food Program said the exceptionally heavy rains in Afghanistan had killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan on May 10 and May 11. Survivors have been left with no home, no land and no source of livelihood, WFP said.