BBC News: An ancient tower in the Afghan city of Ghazni has collapsed, raising questions over the government’s ability to protect the country’s artefacts. Footage uploaded to social media shows a fort in the old city crumbling. The tower was one of dozens already destroyed in the city. Officials blamed heavy rain, but some critics accuse the government of negligence. Ghazni’s Islamic and pre-Islamic architecture is widely admired although war has taken its toll. Click here to read more (external link).
• Ancient tower collapse caught on camera in Ghazni in Afghanistan </s> Ancient tower collapse caught on camera in Ghazni in Afghanistan

The ancient towers of Ghazni have stood through centuries of war and upheaval — until now.

Situated on the strategically vital main route between Kabul and southern Afghanistan, the city is believed to have been built in the 13th century and has seen British, Russian and US invaders come and go.

But now footage of one of the towers collapsing into a cloud of dust has raised fears that neglect may prove more dangerous to the monuments than the shells and bombs of rival armies.

In video posted to social media, dust is seen billowing from beneath the tower in the ancient fort, before the structure starts to crumble, sending bystanders fleeing.

It is one of 32 towers in the old city of Ghazni — many of which have been destroyed in recent years, according to the BBC.

"The main highway is located near the fort, which affects the towers," Mohammad Saber Mohmand, a spokesman for Ministry of Information and Culture, told TOLOnews, which obtained the video.

Now the Afghan government is being urged to help protect the surviving towers.

Ghazni, a trading and transit hub, is home to a number of cultural heritage sites, but the ancient buildings have been difficult for outsiders to access in recent times due to the Taliban insurgency. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A destroyed Russian tank is seen alongside one of two minarets built in the 12th Century in Ghazni city

An ancient tower in the Afghan city of Ghazni has collapsed, raising questions over the government's ability to protect the country's artefacts.

Footage uploaded to social media shows a fort in the old city crumbling.

The tower was one of dozens already destroyed in the city. Officials blamed heavy rain, but some critics accuse the government of negligence.

Ghazni's Islamic and pre-Islamic architecture is widely admired although war has taken its toll.

Mohammad Saber Mohmand, a spokesman for the ministry of information and culture, told Tolo News the fort was "vulnerable to rainfall and mostly damaged by rain".

Skip Twitter post by @TOLOnews A tower in the ancient Ghaznain Fort in Ghazni’s old city collapsed on Tuesday. The fort had 32 towers, most of which have collapsed over the past few years due to “inattention” by relevant government departments. pic.twitter.com/fvo9ntb3Vo — TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) June 11, 2019 Report

"The main highway is located near the fort, which affects the towers," he added.

Ghazni was a thriving Buddhist centre up until the 7th Century. But in 683 AD, Arab armies brought Islam to the region. In the 13th Century it was destroyed by the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan, led by his son Ogedei Khan.

The ancient city has been designated an Asian city of Islamic Culture by the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation.

However, many of the city's ancient buildings have been difficult for outsiders to visit due to the Taliban insurgency. </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> TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least three people died and dozens were feared trapped when a building collapsed in India’s financial capital of Mumbai Thursday, after days of heavy rain swamped the city.

Rescuers using diggers could be seen sifting through the remains of the four-story residential building which gave way around 08:40 am (0310 GMT) in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar.

It was the latest deadly housing collapse to strike the teeming metropolis — shining a spotlight on poor construction standards in the Asian country — and came after heavy rains and inundations in the city killed 10 people.

A spokesman for the Mumbai civic authority’s disaster control team said three bodies had been pulled from the rubble.

“Three people are dead and thirteen injured have been rescued from the building collapse. Two firemen also have been injured during the rescue operations,” Tanaji Kamble, told AFP.

An official in the control room of India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said dozens more were thought to be trapped, he added.

“Forty people are believed to be stuck inside and a 43-member team is conducting rescue operations,” the official said.

He said eight or nine families were thought to have been living in the building.

Building collapses are common in Mumbai, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September, when heavy rains lash the western Indian city. </s> MUMBAI, India (AP) — Torrential rains caused a five-story apartment building to collapse Thursday in the west Indian financial capital of Mumbai, killing 16 people and possibly burying more than a dozen more under debris, police said.

Rescuers, residents and police officers managed to pull 30 injured people from the rubble. Still, more than a dozen were missing and feared trapped beneath a huge mound of mud, broken concrete slabs and twisted steel girders.

The building was one of thousands in Mumbai that are more than 100 years old, with foundations that have been weakened by years of heavy monsoon rains. Last month, another four-story building toppled in the city’s suburb of Ghatkopar, killing 17.

Thursday’s tragedy occurred in a congested area of Mumbai’s southern Bhendi Bazaar area, following the city’s heaviest rainfall in 15 years.

Authorities were advising people living in an adjacent building to vacate after it developed cracks following Thursday’s early morning collapse.

It was not immediately clear how many people might be trapped in the toppled building.

“We are asking people to check if their family members are safe and accounted for,” officer Manoj Sharma said at the scene.

The building had housed nine families in apartments above a first-floor nursery school, but the collapse occurred before the toddlers had arrived for the day, police said.

Nearby resident Amina Sheikh tightly held her 4-year-old grandson’s hand as they watched the rescue efforts from a safe distance.

“This is my grandson. He used to go to school in that building,” she said, tearfully pointing at the rubble.

She had been getting the boy ready for school Thursday morning when she heard a loud boom and saw the building had crashed down. It was “an hour before his class began. That’s why my grandson’s life was saved,” she said.

Hours later, rescuers used earth-moving machines to lift concrete slabs and cement blocks as they searched for survivors.

Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, which is June to September. High demand and lax regulations encourage some builders to use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.

Property prices and rents are among the highest in India as Mumbai has expanded manifold in the past five decades.

Meanwhile, the city was slowly limping back to normalcy after it was paralyzed by heavy downpours for two days.

Train services and public transport were halted and airports shut on Tuesday as roads turned into rivers and floodwaters seeped into many low-lying buildings. In many places, people had to abandon their vehicles and wade through waist-deep water to reach their homes.

Schools, colleges and offices that were shut Wednesday opened Thursday, but attendance was sparse.

Every year the city struggles to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about its poor planning.

Since the start of the season, devastating floods across South Asia have killed at least 1,000 people and affected close to 40 million across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

The rains have led to wide-scale flooding in a broad arc stretching across the Himalayan foothills in the three countries, causing landslides, damaging roads and electric towers and washing away tens of thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland.

Associated Press writer Nirmala George in New Delhi contributed to this report. </s> Heavy storm and rainfall damaged the stone minarets on the south and royal gates of the Taj Mahal on Wednesday. The 12 feet metal pillar at the entry gate which is known as Darwaza-e-Rauza, collapsed as winds with velocity of over 130 km per hour swept the city.

The incident happened around 7:30 pm on Thursday. The pillar fell due to rain and no casualties have been reported as of now, according to ANI.

Darwaza-i-rauza is one of the components of the monument complex, which includes the mausoleum, the mosque and the guest pavilion. The first sight of the Taj Mahal is seen from this gate only. Being called as the ‘Great Gate’, it is also the gateway to the gardens which, symbolically, represents Paradise.

Rain lashed Agra and other cities of Uttar Pradesh including Kanpur, Mathura, Kannauj, Farukkhabad, Etawah and Mainpuri on Wednesday for nearly 30 minutes which claimed three lives in Mathura district. The incident happened after a tin roof of their one-room house collapsed.

Also, a large amount of crop is wasted when the harvest is dampened by the rain, IANS quoted an official as saying. The potato harvest, which is already hit by poor marketing and bad pricing, is also set to take a beating by the rain, he added.

Power outages have also been reported owing to the strong winds blowing across many areas. The weatherman informed that there is a low-pressure depression in some parts of the state which is leading to the rains.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App </s> Rescuers are desperately searching for at least 30 people trapped in rubble after a five-storey building collapsed in flood-hit Mumbai.

At least four people have been confirmed to have died in the collapse in western Indian city early on Thursday.

Rescue workers, police and locals have so far pulled 13 people out of the debris alive as heavy machinery was used to lift the rubble.

Residents in an adjacent building in the Bhendi Bazaar area in southern Mumbai have been urged to evacuate after it developed cracks.

Two days of torrential rain across the region, the heaviest for more than 15 years, has exposed the foundations of Mumbai's buildings and left them at risk of collapse.

Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, which is June to September.

Transport in the city ground to a halt as roads turned into rivers and floodwaters swept across many low-lying buildings.

Drivers were forced to leave their vehicles while people waded through waist-deep water to reach their homes. </s> MUMBAI, India (AP) — A five-story building collapsed in India’s financial capital of Mumbai, killing 12 people and injuring 14 others on Thursday, after torrential rains lashed the country’s west. Another 25 people are feared trapped in the debris.

Rescue workers, police and residents helped pull 13 people out of the rubble and were looking for those buried in the huge mound of mud, concrete slabs and twisted steel girders. The residential building is located in a congested lane of the Bhendi Bazaar area in southern Mumbai.

Thousands of Mumbai buildings that are more than 100 years old are at risk of collapse, their foundations weakened partly by some of the heaviest rainfall that the city has witnessed in more than 15 years. Last month, 17 people were killed when a four-story building collapsed in the Mumbai suburb of Ghatkopar.

Authorities were advising people living in an adjacent building to vacate after it developed cracks following Thursday’s collapse.

A police official at the site said it was not immediately clear how many people were trapped in the building.

“We are asking people to check if their family members are safe and accounted for,” said Manoj Sharma. He said nine families lived in the building.

A nursery school was located in the ground floor of the building, but the collapse occurred before the toddlers had reached for the day.

Hours after the collapse, rescuers used earth moving machines to lift concrete slabs and cement blocks as they searched for survivors.

Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, which is June to September. High demand and lax regulations encourage some builders to use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.

Property prices and rents are among the highest in India as Mumbai has expanded manifold in the past five decades.

Meanwhile, the city was slowly limping back to normalcy after it was paralyzed by heavy downpours for two days.

Train services and public transport were halted and airports shut on Tuesday as roads turned into rivers and floodwaters seeped into many low-lying buildings. In many places, people had to abandon their vehicles and wade through waist-deep water to reach their homes.

Schools, colleges and offices that were shut Wednesday opened Thursday, but attendance was sparse.

Every year the city struggles to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about its poor planning.

Since the start of the season, devastating floods across South Asia have killed at least 1,000 people and affected close to 40 million across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

The rains have led to wide-scale flooding in a broad arc stretching across the Himalayan foothills in the three countries, causing landslides, damaging roads and electric towers and washing away tens of thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland.
One of the towers of the centuries-old Citadel of Ghazni, Afghanistan collapses amid heavy rainfall.