As many as 2,000 people are missing after a landslide buried part of a village in Afghanistan, according to police.
Three hundred homes in the village of Hobo Barik were buried after heavy rains caused part of a hill to collapse at around 1pm local time on Friday.
Governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb said around a third of the village had been hit by the landslide and appealed for equipment for rescue teams.
He said: “It’s physically impossible right now. We don’t have enough shovels, we need more machinery.”
Mr Adeeb added authorities had evacuated a nearby village over fears of more landslides.
Faziluddin Hayar, police chief in Badakshan province, said seven people have been rescued and search crews were looking for more survivors.
Badakshan province is located in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges and is one of the most remote areas in the country.
The area, which borders Tajikistan and China, has seen few attacks from insurgents following the 2001 US-led military action in the country.
Avalanches are common in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. In February 2010, more than 170 people were killed in an avalanche in Salang Pass, which connects the capital Kabul with the north of the country.
