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More than 150 killed in Afghan avalanches

11 February 2010 00:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Afghan emergency teams have recovered more than 150 bodies from a northern mountain pass hit by a series of avalanches, an official said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Days of heavy snow triggered the avalanches that engulfed the 2.6 km (1.6 mile) Soviet-built Salang tunnel, the main route across the Hindu Kush mountain range, connecting the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia.
"Unfortunately over 150 of our countrymen have been killed in the freezing cold and snow, and hundreds of others have been injured," General Mohammad Rajab, head of the Kabul-Salang highway authority, told Reuters.
He said dozens of survivors had been found on Wednesday.
Troops, rescue teams and local villagers carried the injured, elderly and children for miles on their backs.
Basir Salangi, the governor of Parwan province where Salang tunnel is located, said the road had been cleared, but conditions remained dangerous due to the threat of more avalanches and blizzards.
A Reuters reporting team at the scene saw survivors inside a passenger bus that was swept away into the steep gorge, shouting for help. Several small cars and at least two buses could be seen deep in the gorge.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said 3,000 people had been trapped in vehicles along the mountain pass at 3,400 meters (11,000) feet.