At least 10 people have been killed and hundreds of houses destroyed in a landslide in Panjshir province of Afghanistan, officials AFP on Thursday. The local administration has deployed search and rescue teams to locate those reported to be missing.

National Disaster Management Authority Omar Mohammadi said the personnel were giving top priority to those trapped in the debris in Peshghor village, Thomson Reuters Foundation reported.

President Ashraf Ghani, who is in Brussels for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit, has ordered local authorities to provide immediate assistance to the victims.

Several areas in the country are prone to landslides as the snow melts in the spring. Deforestation has increased the number of such incidents.