KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Four people have drowned and died in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, according to a Taliban official.
Nasir Ahmad Muhajer, spokesperson for the Taliban’s police command in Helmand, said the four victims drowned in different parts of the province on Friday, August 21.
Muhajer said the bodies of all four victims were recovered and handed over to their families.
The incidents come as rising temperatures across Afghanistan have coincided with an increase in drowning cases in rivers, canals, ponds and other bodies of water.
In many cases, children, teenagers and young people drown while swimming in rivers or stagnant water, often in areas where rescue equipment, lifeguards and other emergency services are unavailable.
Statistics published by the Taliban’s Natural Disaster Management Authority show that 75 people died from drowning during the first two and a half months of the current solar year. The fatalities included 41 children, seven women and 27 men.
The figures indicate that, during the warmer months, an average of about one person dies from drowning every day in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s high drowning rate is linked to several factors, including extreme summer temperatures that push young people toward rivers, canals and ponds for swimming, limited access to safe swimming facilities, and a lack of lifeguards and rescue equipment in many communities.
Poor public awareness about water safety and the absence of effective emergency-response services in remote areas can also increase the risk. In rural and mountainous parts of the country, rivers and irrigation canals are often easily accessible but can have strong currents, sudden changes in water depth and other hazards that make swimming particularly dangerous.
