China offers aid after Afghanistan landslide

The Chinese government will provide support and help for Afghanistan in its relief efforts after a deadly landslide hit the country, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday.

Hua told a regular press briefing that the Red Cross Society of China had already provided Afghanistan's Red Crescent Society with emergency humanitarian aid.

"The Chinese government will provide support and assistance for the disaster relief according to the need of the Afghan side," Hua said.

More than 2,500 people are feared to have lost their lives in the landslide in a remote village in northern Afghanistan Friday. Days of heavy rain in the mountainous Badakhshan province caused the landslide.

Chinese President Xi Jinpingsent a message of sympathy to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, expressing condolences and sympathy to those affected by the disaster.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also sent a message of sympathy.

The search for survivors is still underway, with rescuers scrambling to get aid into the village through flooded and destroyed roads, about 315 kilometers northeast of Kabul.