File photo of a woman struggling to make her way through the snow covered streets of Kabul. PHOTO: AFP
Avalanches triggered by heavy snow have killed more than 100 people in mountainous areas of northern Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday, as rescuers battled to save dozens more trapped in the snow.
Almost all of the victims were in Panjshir province, approximately 150 kilometres north of Kabul, acting governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri told AFP.
The avalanches came after two days of heavy snow destroyed more than 100 homes in the province and blocked main roads, making it difficult for rescue workers to reach the stricken villages.
“Ordinary people and government employees are using shovels and bare hands to rescue those who are still trapped under the snow,” Kabiri said, warning that the toll could rise without emergency help. “We have gathered 300 people to help with the rescue, but we don’t have the equipment we need,” he added.
As temperatures plunged well below freezing, workers continued to toil into the night to rescue at least 28 people still believed to be trapped in their houses buried under the snow.
Around 30 people were also suffering from frostbite and other injuries after being rescued, the acting governor said. “We will continue the rescue operation throughout the night,” Kabiri added.
One hundred have been killed in Panjshir province, while a further 11 people lost their lives in the provinces of Bamyan, Badghis, Nangarhar and Laghman, officials said.
Abdul Rahman Kalantari, head of disaster response at the Afghan Red Crescent Society, confirmed the heavy death toll and said they had already dispatched health teams to Panjshir.
President Ashraf Ghani in a statement expressed his sorrow at the deaths and said he had ordered Afghan authorities to provide urgent assistance to those affected.
Earlier in the day, Mohammad Aslam Sayas, the deputy head of the Afghan disaster management authority, said rescue teams were being dispatched to areas affected by the snowfall.
Deadly avalanches are common in Afghanistan’s mountainous areas in winter. One in the remote far northeast in 2012 left 145 people missing and presumed dead. In 2010, another avalanche killed 165 people in the high-altitude Salang Pass.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2015.
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