By Yousuf Basil and Qadir Sediqi, CNN
updated 4:48 AM EDT, Sat May 3, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Local governor fears up to 2,700 dead
- A wedding ceremony was under way at the time of the landslide, governor says
- It struck a remote, mountainous area in northeast Afghanistan
- Hundreds from a nearby village came to help, then another landslide hit
(CNN) -- Rescuers will not dig out hundreds of people feared buried underneath stones and mud in a remote village in northeastern Afghanistan, authorities said Saturday.
Local officials have decided to declare the site a mass grave, said Shah Waliullah Adeeb, the provincial governor of Badakhshan.
Up to 50 meters of mud covers some of the homes, making it impossible to dig up the bodies, he said.
The landslide swallowed an estimated 2,700 people from 300-400 homes, Adeeb said.
Adeeb appealed to international organizations to help survivors, including 700 families evacuated from nearby areas.
Key needs for them are water, medical support, counseling support, food and emergency shelter, the United Nations said.
The landslide crashed down around noon in the district of Argo in Badakhshan province. The governor said a wedding ceremony was taking place in that area at the time.
Close to 600 people from a nearby village came to help dig people out and were swallowed by a new landslide, Adeeb said.
Adeeb said the estimated number of 2,700 dead is based on houses occupied, the number of wedding attendees and those who came to help only to get buried themselves.
Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman for the United Nations' Afghanistan mission, estimated 2,000 died.
The area is far from a major cit, and is bordered by Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south. Rocky terrain and mountains make it difficult to reach.
The United States is "ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster," U.S. President Obama said Friday.
"I want to say on behalf of the American people that our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan, who have experienced an awful tragedy," Obama said during a wide-ranging news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Badakhshan comprises a majority Tajik population and an Uzbek and Kyrgyz minority. It was the only province not controlled by the Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan.
CNN's Greg Botelho, Jason Hanna and Aliza Kassim contributed to this report.
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