DHAKA: Rescuers in Afghanistan have given up hope of finding any more survivors in a double landslide that is feared to have killed more than 2,500 people.

They have stopped digging through the earth and mud that swamped a whole village in the remote north-east province of Badakhshan on Friday.

Officials now say the site has become a mass grave for the village of Ab Barik.

Aid, including tents, food and water, has begun to arrive for the survivors.

They spent Friday night camped out in near freezing conditions on the open hillside.

The BBC’s David Loyn, who has arrived at the scene, described it as desolate and distraught as the surviving villagers try to settle in their temporary new homes on the hillside.

He said heavy rain is believed to have triggered Friday’s two landslides, the first of which buried hundreds of homes and the second then killed rescuers who had arrived at the scene to help reach survivors.

BDST: 2121 HRS, MAY 03, 2014