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Afghan refugee boy dies in building collapse

April 27, 2005

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, 27 April (UNHCR) - A 13-year-old Afghan youth died when a shed collapsed that his family had been sleeping under while waiting for the UN Refugee Agency repatriation centre to open, UNHCR announced on Wednesday.

Gul Agha died in hospital on Tuesday from severe head injuries and his 15-year-old sister Kamil was treated for back injuries and released. Other members of the five families who spent the night under the shelter because they arrived from Jalozai Camp after the Iris Verification Centre closed on Monday were lightly injured.

UNHCR expressed its deep condolences to the family of Nazak Mir. The family wished to continue their repatriation and UNHCR provided transportation to carry them and the body of their dead son to their destination in Kunduz province of northern Afghanistan.

The shed, provided to shelter refugees while waiting at the UNHCR facility, had possibly been weakened by the severe winter rains. A second shed has been closed as a precaution and both will be replaced by new structures.