Afghan Landslide Village Now a 'Cemetery'

An Afghanistan village buried in a landslide yesterday is now considered a "cemetery," says a government official in Badakhshan province. The last of the rescuers gave up hope today of finding survivors in the mud that devastated the village of Abi Barik in the mountainous and remote northeast, reports the BBC. It will take some time to figure out how many were killed, with estimates ranging between 350 and 2,700, reports Reuters. The focus now will shift to providing help for the estimated 4,000 people without shelter.

"The scale of this landslide is absolutely devastating, with an entire village practically wiped away," says an official with the International Organization for Migration. "Hundreds of families have lost everything and are in immense need of assistance." Many of those killed were at their houses trying to get things in order after an earlier, smaller landslide. The area has been deluged with rain of late. (More Afghanistan stories.)