iggered by torrential rains have killed more than 100 people in this Central Asian nation, and scores more remained trapped in debris, officials said Wednesday.
Abdurashid Khashimov, a deputy head of Tajikistan’s emergency section, cited the higher death toll Wednesday, and said at least 50 others were still missing after the weekend floods and landslides.
He said the death toll could rise further once the government is able to restore communications with remote areas in the disaster zone, the Interfax news agency reported.
Akmal Babayev, the head of the emergency section, told The Associated Press he couldn’t immediately confirm Khashimov’s statement.
But Babayev said dozens of victims remained buried under huge rocks and thick layers of mud in the village of Navde, in an eastern region of the Pamir Mountains. Rescue workers so far have been unable to recover more bodies, he said.
The floods and landslides, described as the area’s worst in 30 years, also hit other regions of Tajikistan, affecting large tracts of farmland, washing away bridges, destroying roads and power lines, and forcing the evacuation at least 4,000 people to evacuate, officials said.
The government has estimated damage at $65 million.