A cold wave in Afghanistan kills 166 people
Afghanistan has been witnessing a severe cold wave for about 20 days, which has caused the death of at least 166 people, according to an official at the Ministry of Disaster Management on Saturday.
Abdul Rahman Zahid said that 88 people died within a week, which brings the total death toll so far to 166, based on data from 26 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan.
Zahid explained in a video that the deaths resulted from floods, fires, and leakage in the gas heaters used to heat homes.
The temperature has dropped to -33 degrees Celsius in some parts of Afghanistan since January 10.
This severe cold is sometimes accompanied by snow or rain that causes ice, amid frequent power outages.
Humanitarian aid organizations had warned before the cold wave that more than half of the 38 million people were on the brink of starvation and that four million children were suffering from malnutrition.
The cold also led to the collapse or damage of about a hundred homes and the death of about eighty thousand head of livestock, which is a basic resource in the very poor country.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization announced this week the death of 17 people in a village in Badakhshan Province (northeast) due to "severe pneumonia".
The organization reported that "difficult weather conditions prevented relief teams from reaching the area."
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