Scores of people have been killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by heavy snow and avalanches that hit mountainous areas in the region, officials stated.
In eastern Afghanistan, at least 50 people were killed and dozens more remain missing after an avalanche buried a village in Nuristan province, provincial governor Hafiz Abdul Qayum told Al Jazeera, leaving many homeless.
 |
| Afghan tea vendor Imran, 15, prepares tea for customers on a hillside during snowfall near Qargha Lake on the outskirts of Kabul [AFP] |
"Most affected are women and children," he said, adding that many houses collapsed, killing at least five people and leaving many families without shelter.
"The area is completely blocked because of snow so it is very difficult for us to send support, but we are trying our best."
Qayum stated local rescue operations continued at the site, adding the death toll might increase.
In the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, at least 19 people were killed and 17 injured in avalanches, collapsed roofs and road accidents over the last two days, Naweed Frotan, a government spokesperson, stated.
 |
| Afghan shopkeepers shovel snow from the roof of their shop during snowfall in Kabul [AFP] |
The government was still struggling to reach at least 12 districts in Badakhshan province that had been completely cut off, Qayum stated.
Heavy snow also blanketed the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, forcing government offices to close across the city.
Avalanches in Pakistan’s Chitral
In neighbouring Pakistan, at least nine people, including at least three children, were killed early on Sunday morning when an avalanche in the northwestern Chitral district destroyed 22 houses, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) stated in a statement.
Three people were injured in avalanche, with one in critical condition, the statement stated.
"Rescue operations at the site have finished for now," Gul Hammad Farooqi, a local journalist in Chitral, told Al Jazeera.
"They were carried out by the local population, because no one was able to reach the site, even by helicopter."
 |
| Avalanches and freezing weather have killed more than 20 people in different areas of Afghanistan, as rescuers worked to save scores still trapped under the snow [AFP] |
No more residents of the village were currently being reported missing, Farooqi said, citing senior local officials.
Roads to the remote Shershal village, where the avalanche occurred, remained blocked due to the snowfall, and rescue crews were forced to rush to the surrounding areas by helicopter, the NDMA stated.
In a separate incident in the Chitral region, a paramilitary soldier was killed and six others were injured when their post collapsed under an avalanche in the Pisotan area, Pakistan's military stated in a statement.
The surviving soldiers had been rescued, the statement stated.
Parts of the Chitral valley received more than five feet of snow in the previous 24 hours, Pakistan’s Meteorological Department stated in a statement on Sunday, with scattered snowfall forecast for Monday.
Transport networks affected
The snow wreaked havoc on major roads in Afghanistan, including the main Kabul-Kandahar highway, where police and soldiers rescued passengers in about 250 vehicles trapped by the storm, stated Jawed Salangi, a spokesman for Ghazni province.
The Salang pass, north of Kabul, was also closed under as much as two and a half metres of snow, officials stated.
In Pakistan, all inter-district roads in Chitral were closed, while a major highway linking Chitral to the Dir district, and another linking parts of the upper Swat valley were only open to traffic under restrictions, NDMA stated.Aljazeera