Afghan vice president visits site of landslide disaster

An official delegation led by Afghan first vice president Mohammad Youns Qanooni paid a visit to the site of a massive landslide in the northeastern mountainous province of Badakhshan on Sunday.

On Friday, a deadly mudslide turned Aab Bareek village into a mass grave as it is very difficult to excavate and recover the bodies from thick mud.

Although there is no official death toll, Badakhshan's provincial governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb told Xinhua that more than 2,500 people might have lost their lives in the landslide.

To pay homage to the victims, the government has declared Sunday as national mourning day, asking government buildings and Afghan diplomatic missions abroad to fly the national flag at half mast. Endi