At least 10 people have been killed and many others are still missing after a landslide broke the banks of a natural dam in northeastern Panjshir province in the early hours of Thursday, local officials confirmed.

Officials said an ice cap on a nearby mountain melted and triggered the deadly landslide, which in turn caused the flood.

The incident happened at about 1am on Thursday in Has-e-Awal district of the province. When the landslide broke the banks of the dam, fast flowing water surged through a valley in the mountainous area carving out a path of destruction.

In one village over 400 houses were either destroyed or damaged, the deputy provincial governor Mohammad Amin Sediqqi said.

Two districts in the province have been cut off, Sediqqi said, adding that “the number of casualties may rise.”

Meanwhile officials at the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) have appealed for help for the victims – many of whom have lost everything and have been left homeless.

The ANDMA said rescue teams have been sent to the area to help search for the missing and recover bodies. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan officials say a dilapidated dam in a scenic northern valley has crumbled under the weight of heavy summer rains, killing at least 10 people.

Omar Mohammadi, a spokesman for the ministry for humanitarian assistance, said that along with the 10 killed, about 300 houses were completely destroyed in the Panjshir Valley.

The scenic valley, popular with tourists, is located about 140 kilometers, or 95 miles, north of Kabul.

After the dam burst, the floodwaters swept into villages downstream, engulfing homes and sending panicked residents fleeing on Wednesday night.

Deputy police chief Najim Khan said on Thursday that 13 people remain missing in the Khinj district and that here are fears they might have been swept away in the disaster, which also damaged 1,000 hectares, or 2,470 acres, of farmland. </s> Afghanistan: At least 10 people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed in northeastern Afghanistan after melting snow triggered a landslide, officials said Thursday.

"A mountain lake in Panjshir, a province known for its snowcapped peaks north of Kabul, overflowed and caused a landslide," Omar Mohammadi, spokesman for the disaster management ministry, told AFP.

"We have deployed everything at hand to help the people," said Mohammadi.

"Some people are missing. Villagers using shovels and other tools were desperately searching for survivors as rescue teams were deployed to the area," he added.

Disasters such as avalanches and flash floods often hit in mountainous areas of Afghanistan as snows melt in the spring and summer. </s> At least 35 people have died and some are still missing after flash floods hit provinces in the north and west of Afghanistan on March 29. The floods have destroyed hundreds of homes, some historic sites, thousands of acres of farmland, bridges, and highways, while some remote areas have been cut off. News crews witnessed villagers trying to salvage their belongings from thick mud and ruined houses in the Enjil district of Herat Province in western Afghanistan. </s> At least 10 people were killed andin a remote area of northeastern Afghanistan after melting snow triggered a landslide, officials said Thursday.A mountain lake in Panjshir, a province north of Kabul known for its snowcapped peaks, overflowed and sent water and mud cascading over Peshghor village, Omar Mohammadi, spokesman for the disaster management ministry, told AFP.Jamil Ahmad was lying in bed just before midnight when he said he heard a sound like "jets" flying overhead."Somebody shouted 'Flood!' and I ran away with my family to higher ground," Ahmad told AFP by telephone."The people started firing (weapons) into the air to warn others about the flood.""Three women from my neighborhood and two laborers who didn't hear the warning were taken away by the flood," Ahmad said.Villagers had been worried about the possibility of landslides after several days of increasingly warm weather, Ahmad said.Most survivors were staying on higher ground for fear of more, he added.Disasters such as avalanches and flash floods often hit in mountainous areas of Afghanistan as snow melts in the spring and summer. It is made worse by deforestation.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who is in Brussels for the NATO summit, said he was "deeply saddened" by the latest natural disaster."A number of people have lost their lives" in the landslide, Ghani said in a statement.He ordered "relevant authorities to provide urgent assistance to the affected people".The landslide comes as the country is in the grip of a nearly 17-year war between Afghan security forces and the Taliban.Source: Agence France-Presse </s> At least 24 people were killed when a landslide swept through village in southern Kyrgyzstan.

The Emergencies Ministry says there are nine children among those buried alive in the village of Ayu in the country's Osh region on April 29.

Dozens of rescue workers are at the scene looking for survivors.

President Almazbek Atambaev, meanwhile, made an emotional video appeal posted to the presidential YouTube channel, saying villagers had been warned earlier in the week of possible mudslides.

He called on people to heed experts' warnings.

The Central Asian nation, 95 percent of which is mountainous, has seen heavy snows and rains this winter.

Emergency Minister Kubatbek Boronov told RFE/RL that more than 5,000 places around the country faced a real threat of landslides or flooding.

The Ayu landslide is the country's deadliest since 2004 when a mudslide killed 33 people.

With reporting by AFP and Interfax </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian state TV is reporting that flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed 17 people and left 20 missing in the country's northwest.

The Saturday report quotes Director General of Crisis Management in East Azarbaijan province, Khalil Saei, as saying: "Rescue teams have found 17 dead bodies after flash floods triggered by heavy rains in the cities of Ajabshir and Azarshahr."

Saei added that Red Crescent workers, air ambulances, police and army forces have been deployed from the early hours of the incident for providing aid."

In September, at least 10 people were killed in flash flooding in Tehran and Hormozgan provinces. </s> Heavy rains caused flash floods in western Afghanistan that killed at least 17 people, destroying homes and sweeping through makeshift shelters that housed displaced families, a government official said on Saturday.Two days of flooding that started on Thursday killed 12 people in Jawzjan and two in Badghis, provinces that border Turkmenistan, said Hasibullah Shir Khani, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.Two others were killed in Herat and another in Sar-e Pul province, he said.More than 500 houses were destroyed.The floods worsen an already desperate situation.Children waded through muddy, knee-deep floodwaters that flowed through tent camps for displaced people after the rain stopped.Officials in Herat, which borders Iran, put the death toll higher than the national government. Dr. Abdul Hakim Tamana, head of public health for the province, said eight people were killed and nine injured.Source: Reuters </s> Several people have been killed, hundreds remain missing and around 6,600 are homeless after the collapse of a hydroelectric dam under construction in Laos, according to authorities cited by the official Lao News Agency on Tuesday.

The authorities did not specify the exact number of fatalities.
At least ten people are killed and many others still missing after a landslide breaks the banks of a natural dam in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan.