KABUL, Afghanistan — At least 30 Afghan villagers searching for gold in a riverbed perished on Sunday in a flash flood in northeastern Badakhshan province, provincial officials said.

Along with those killed, dozens were also injured as a landslide and flash flood engulfed the river in the morning in Kohistan district, an area about 68 miles from Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan.

Nek Mohammad Nazari, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said the villagers had dug deep in the river, which had in the past been mined for gold, when they were caught in the flash flood. The casualty numbers could rise, he said.

The victims were villagers who were mining for gold illegally, according to the official.

“Rescue teams have been dispatched to the area to help in recovering the bodies,” Nazari said.

Sanaullah Rohani, spokesman for the police chief in Badakhshan, said seven of the injured were in critical condition. According to Rohani, there were about 50 people illegally looking for gold at the time of the landslide.

Fawzia Kofi, a lawmaker form Badakhshan, gave a higher death toll for the tragedy, saying that 40 villagers were killed.

Afghanistan has huge, largely untouched reserves of copper, iron ore, chromite, mercury, zinc, gems, including rubies and emeralds, as well as gold and silver.

Mines are scattered across different provinces of the country, but still the government has not been able to achieve investments in this important sector or establish a thriving extraction industry.

Park Service dips into entrance fees to pay staff at popular sites

WASHINGTON — The National Park Service says it is taking the extraordinary step of dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at its highly visited parks in the wake of the partial government shutdown.

P. Daniel Smith, deputy director of the service, said Sunday that the money would be used to bring in staff to maintain restrooms, clean up trash and patrol the parks. He acknowledged that the Trump administration’s decision to keep the parks open during the weekslong budget impasse was no longer workable and so measures were warranted.

Parks have been relying on outside help for security and upkeep.

Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the incoming chair of the subcommittee overseeing Interior appropriations, said Sunday that dipping into user fees was “not acceptable” and likely violates the law.

Kurdish forces detain two Americans hiding with ISIS

BEIRUT — Kurdish forces in Syria said Sunday that they had captured two American citizens hiding out in the country’s final Islamic State stronghold.

In a statement, the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, identified the detainees as Warren Christopher Clark, 34, and Zaid Abed al-Hamid, 35. It said the pair had been captured alongside three others suspected of being foreign recruits in the extremist group.

The SDF did not provide additional information about the two Americans it detained, but according to a report by George Washington University’s program on extremism, Clark had sought work with the Islamic State and sent a resume and cover letter for an English-teaching job at the University of Mosul in Iraq.

Researchers call monarch count ‘disturbingly low’

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers with an environmental group have labeled as “disturbingly low” the number of western monarch butterflies that migrate along the California coast.

A recent count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 30,000 butterflies, which it said is an 86 percent decline since 2017.

By comparison, the group in 1981 counted more than 1 million western monarchs wintering in California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The Xerces Society conducts annual Thanksgiving and New Year’s counts and was not certain what caused the numbers to drop.

It said there is no substantial evidence of a delayed migration, and butterflies are not being reported in other parts of the country.

Suspected drunken driver kills Mich. family of 5

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A suspected drunken driver heading the wrong way on Interstate 75 in Kentucky struck a vehicle carrying five family members from Michigan early Sunday, killing all six people, authorities said.

The southbound pickup truck being driven in the northbound lanes struck the family’s sport utility vehicle at 2:30 a.m. in Lexington. The SUV caught fire and all five occupants of that vehicle died, along with the pickup’s driver, Lexington police said in a statement.

The family from Northville, Mich., was returning from a vacation in Florida, the Fayette County coroner’s office said.

A coroner’s statement identified the family members as Issam Abbas, 42 and Rima Abbas, 38, along with their children, a boy Ali Abbas, 14; and girls Isabella Abbas, 13, and Giselle Abbas, 7.

Christians celebrate Epiphany across Europe

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Christians across Europe celebrated Epiphany on Sunday, with worshippers plunging into icy waters and parades being held in Poland and elsewhere.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis marked the Epiphany feast day by urging people to follow the path of “humble love” and care for those who can give nothing back.

For the Catholic Church, Jan. 6 recalls the journey of the three Magi, also known as kings or wise men, to find Jesus in a humble abode in Bethlehem.

In Spain, children leave their shoes out in expectation of receiving gifts from the three kings.

In Poland, hundreds of thousands of people have participated in colorful Epiphany processions in more than 700 locations across the country, which is predominantly Catholic.

In Israel: Israel’s Shin Bet security service says five Jewish minors have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the killing of a Palestinian woman. The agency said the youths were seminary students suspected of hurling the rocks that killed 48-year-old Aisha Rabi in October.

In Poland: Prosecutors in northern Poland presented charges Sunday against the man who designed an escape room entertainment site where five teenage girls were killed in a fire. The man was charged with intentionally creating a fire danger and with unintentionally causing the deaths of the girls.