Death toll in Afghan avalanches reaches 157 (1st Lead)

Feb 10, 2010, 11:00 GMT

Kabul - The death toll from a series of avalanches in northern Afghanistan reached 157 Wednesday as rescuers worked to find survivors, officials said.

Dozens of avalanches struck the Salang Pass Monday, a mountainous area at an altitude of 3,300 metres where a 5-kilometre tunnel links the capital Kabul, to the northern parts of the country.

More than 130 bodies had been recovered and taken south to Parwan province, Interior Ministry spokesman Zamarai Bashary said. The rest of the victims were moved to Baghlan province in the northern part of Afghanistan's highest pass.

'Our forces are still searching for any survivors who are under the snow for the past three days,' he said, adding that 18 people were rescued alive on Wednesday amid fading hopes for survivors.

Around 50 bodies, including five women and one child, were pulled from the snow Wednesday afternoon, said Abdul Basir Salangi, Parwan's provincial governor. The bodies had been found in a bus and three small vehicles buried under a blanket of snow, he said.

He said the rescue teams also evacuated three unconscious passengers to a hospital in Charikar, the provincial capital of Parwan.

Farid Rahid, a spokesman for Public Health Ministry said 84 bodies were brought to government hospitals in Parwan and Baghlan provinces, while another 120 injured people were admitted.

He said several other bodies were taken to NATO and Afghan army hospitals, while dozens of passengers with minor injuries had already been treated and released.

More than 600 army and police forces and dozens of local residents began the rescue operation Monday afternoon, pulling 2,600 people from snow-blocked roads over three days, Bashary said.

At least four NATO helicopters and two Afghan military helicopters were also involved in the operation. The Afghan choppers, unable to land, dropped food packages and blankets to those still trapped.

The NATO aircraft, Chinook 47 helicopters from the US, landed on the main highway several times on Tuesday, ferrying stranded motorists to Bagram, the biggest US military base in the northern part of Kabul city, NATO said in a statement.

'Almost 250 Afghans were brought to Bagram Air Field where they were treated for injuries, provided food, shelter and warm blankets,' it said.