Avalanches in Afghanistan kill over 30, strand 1,500 (2nd Roundup)

Feb 9, 2010, 14:36 GMT

Kabul - At least 30 people were killed and more than 70 injured in avalanches in northern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

Around 1,500 were pulled to safety while others remained stranded at a snow-blocked mountain pass after avalanches struck the Salang road Monday afternoon.

Heavy snow had fallen on the area at an altitude of 3,300 metres, where a 5-kilometre-tunnel links the capital Kabul to the northern region.

Some 600 rescuers, including police and army forces and local residents, worked throughout the night to pull the survivors from a thick blanket of snow, Defence Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said.

'More than 30 people were martyred and more than 70 other people were injured in the incidents,' Azimi said, adding that the toll could rise as several vehicles were still trapped under the snow.

General Yaftaly Khan, head of the Defence Ministry health department, also confirmed that several vehicles were still buried, and warned that 'the number of dead people could rise to 50.'

'The main reason that a lot of people were saved was that our forces worked tirelessly throughout the night to pull them out,' Khan told the German Press Agency dpa.

General Kabir Adarabi, the provincial police chief of the northern province of Baghlan, said that a large number of people were killed when their vehicles were hit by the avalanches, while several others froze to death trapped inside their cars.

'Around 100 vehicles are still trapped in the snow-blocked road near the main tunnel, but the strong snowstorm in the area hampers the rescuing teams' advance,' he said.

President Hamid Karzai expressed grief over the deaths and 'ordered relevant authorities to make every effort possible for a quick reopening of the tunnel and provide help to those in need,' the presidential palace said in a statement.

Abdul Matin Edraak, head of National Disaster Management Centre said that at least 17 avalanches were reported by Monday evening, with several more collapses on Tuesday.

He said more than 200 passenger vehicles and trucks were trapped inside the main tunnel.

Soldiers and police were mobilized to join other rescue workers in the area, Azimi said, adding that four army helicopters and dozens of ambulances and bulldozers were also rushed to the area.

Although officials earlier had hoped to clear the road before dusk, it remained covered in metres of snow as night fell Tuesday. Khan said that it would be up to two more days before the road was open to traffic.