Afghanistan is holding a day of mourning for the victims of a double landslide that turned a northeastern village into a cemetery.<br /><br />The search for survivors has been called off and the focus is on helping the injured and displaced.<br /><br />The provincial governor of Badakhshan said there was no hope for more than 2,000 people believed buried.<br /><br />However subsequent estimates have since suggested a much lower figure of several hundred for the number of dead and missing.<br /><br />Hundreds of homes were crushed when mud cascaded down from a hillside. As people rushed to the scene to help, many were then engulfed in a second landslide.<br /><br />“After the landslide happened, I came here along with my friends to rescue our relatives but we couldn’t rescue them. A huge number of people have been killed and a number of others are trapped under the mud,” said Mullah Abdul Aziz, a local resident. <br /><br />The UN has said its agencies are ready to help Afghan relief efforts for those who lost their homes, and to work to improve protection against natural disasters. <br /><br />Flooding and landslides are common in the springtime rainy season.<br /><br />The US and the EU have also said they are ready to send aid.<br /><br />The village of Ab Barik which lies in a poor mountainous region bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. <br /><br />The Taliban have promised not to disrupt relief efforts in the area, in which their presence is limited.
