13 PEOPLE CONFIRMED DEAD IN TAJIKISTAN AFTER HEAVY DOWNPOUR

August 28, 2023

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

According to the presidency, the latest natural calamity to strike the mountainous nation of Central Asia, heavy rains in central Tajikistan, have killed at least 13 people.

According to a spokeswoman for the nation’s emergency ministry, the deaths happened in regions just south and east of the capital, Dushanbe, where storms on Sunday had triggered “mudslides, falling rocks, and landslides” in about a dozen districts.

“Because of the heavy rains, a natural catastrophe happened yesterday and caused the deaths of 13 people, including 11 in Vahdat and two in Rudaki district,” the office of President Emomali Rahmon said in a brief statement.

The ministry official stated that there is still a “high risk” of more landslides.

The least developed ex-Soviet country in Central Asia, Tajikistan, is susceptible to natural disasters.

Upper Badakhshan, an independent province in the south bordering Afghanistan, China, and Kyrgyzstan, was hit by dozens of avalanches, landslides, and rockfalls in February. This area is encircled by the Pamir Mountains.

AFP