DUSHANBE: Torrential rains have killed 13 people in western Tajikistan, the press service of the country’s president, Emomali Rahmon, said on Monday.
“As a result of torrential rains yesterday, 13 people died, including 11 in the city of Vahdat and another two near Rudaki,“ the statement read.
Rahmon offered his condolences to families and friends of the victims, his press service said. The president also instructed the prime minister and Committee for Emergency Situations to provide assistance to affected families and to eliminate the consequences of the disaster.
The rains that hit the country on Sunday caused mudslides and rockfalls in the cities of Dushanbe, Vahdat and Gissar, and in the districts of Rudaki, Varzob, Devashtich, Rasht, Sangvor and Tojikobod, a spokeswoman for the emergency committee, Umeda Yusufi, told Sputnik, adding that over 100 households in the four damaged villages in Vahdat were evacuated to safety.
A number of houses and estates near the Tajik capital of Dushanbe were affected by mudslides, with 14 cars stuck in mud. Roads, facilities and five bridges were also damaged.
The emergency committee is currently assessing the scale of the damage. A deputy prime minister, the commission’s head and the head of the agency for land reclamation and irrigation have left for the disaster sites in Vahdat and Rudaki. –Bernama
