Avalanches kill 38 in northern Afghanistan

Mar 23, 2010, 11:15 GMT

Kabul - At least three avalanches struck villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 38 people including women and children, officials said Tuesday.

One avalanche buried several houses in Zoorabad village in the northern province of Badakhshan on Sunday night, killing 35 people, Abdul Marouf Rasekh, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

Five houses collapsed while 15 others were damaged, he said. Police rescue teams and local volunteers retrieved the bodies on Monday afternoon.

Roads in the mountainous district were also blocked by avalanches, making it impossible for aid organizations to get food and blankets to survivors, the state-run Red Crescent agency said.

Three other people were killed in two separate avalanches in Keshim and Tagab district of the province, Red Crescent chief Hemat said, adding that hundreds of livestock were also killed.

Badakhshan, one of the most impoverished provinces in the country, borders China, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

As the weather becomes warmer, the thawing snows trigger deadly avalanches in northern and north-eastern provinces each spring.

More than 170 people were killed last month when at least a dozen avalanches buried hundreds of vehicles at a high-altitude mountain pass, where a 5-kilometre tunnel links the capital Kabul to the northern regions.