Afghan provincial officials have said thousands of people were killed in a catastrophic landslide that buried a village in the Hindu Kush under tons of rubble.

A spokesman for the provincial governor, Shah Waliullah Adeeb, said on Saturday that 2,100 people from 300 families were killed when a hill collapsed on the village of Hobo Barik, in Badakshan province, on Friday during heavy rain.

UN authorities in Afghanistan could not verify the Afghan officials' death toll, saying 350 were confirmed dead and many more were missing. The UN said its focus was now on more than 4,000 people displaced by the disaster.

Mark Bowden, a UN co-coordinator, told Al Jazeera that chances of finding survivors were slim due to the catastrophic nature of the landslide.

There is a risk of further landslides in the area, officials say.

Al Jazeera's Abdullah Shahood, reporting from Kabul, said at least 250 homes buried under 60 meters of rubble and rescue teams were unable to reach them. He said: "The landslide brought the entire village under rubble."

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, said he was deeply saddened by the situation and had ordered disaster authorities to deal with the situation and deliver aid.

Aid was on its way, but the remote village is difficult to reach and the heavy machinery needed to dig those trapped is not easily transported.

Governor Adeep had earlier appealed for more shovels to dig people out. "It's physically impossible. We don't have enough shovels, we need more machinery."

PHOTO CAPTION

A picture made available on 02 May 2014 shows a general view of the district that is effected by landsliding, in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, 05 October 2013.

Al-Jazeera