Death toll from Afghan avalanches tops 100



The bulk of the deaths, however, occurred in remote Nuristan province, where at least 50 people were killed in a single village, Mohammad Omar Mohammadi a spokesman for the ministry of natural disaster told AFP.

"Avalanches have buried two entire villages in Bargmatal district, 50 bodies were recovered from one village while rescuers are trying to reach the other village," said the spokesman. 




"Several dozens are still trapped, we are trying to rescue them," he said, adding that many roads were still blocked.


"The roads to Balkhab are still blocked and we are trying to open them," he said.

Freezing weather killed at least two people and over 100 animals in the western province of Badghis.

In Parwan province just north of Kabul, the spokesman for governor Wahid Sediqqi said 16 people died.


- Heavy snowfall -

Unusually, snow even fell in the southern province of Kandahar. 

Neighbouring Pakistan was also hit by severe weather, with at least 13 people killed in the northwest by avalanches or heavy rain.

An avalanche smashed into eight homes in the village of Shershal in Chitral district, killing nine people including four women and four children.


Six people who had been trapped beneath the snow were rescued.

A separate avalanche killed a soldier at a border checkpoint in Chitral district, a military statement said, while six more soldiers were injured.

Chitral district mayor Maghfriat Shah said the city's airport was closed because of the weather.

The region's electricity supply was also disrupted after the main power line was damaged. 


Deadly avalanches are common in Afghanistan's mountainous areas in winter and rescue efforts are frequently hampered by lack of equipment.

Despite billions of dollars in international aid after the ousting of the Taliban government in 2001, Afghanistan remains among the world's poorest nations.

Last month, heavy snowfall and freezing weather killed 27 children, all under the age of five, in Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan.

Topics: Afghanistan , Pakistan , weather , avalanche
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