Afghanistan: More than 140 people remain missing after avalanche

Afghanistan: More than 140 people remain missing after avalanche

2012-03-11 16:32:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

FAYZABAD, Afghanistan (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll after an avalanche buried a remote village in northeastern Afghanistan earlier this week has risen to at least 55, the United Nations (UN) reported on Saturday. More than 140 people remain missing and are feared to have been killed as well.

The avalanche occurred on late Monday evening in the village of Deh Pasin in Shiki district, located in the remote and mountainous province of Badakhshan which faces severe snow every year between October and April. The village, located near the border with Tajikistan, can only be reached by helicopter or by a road from across the border.

The landslide buried dozens of houses in the village of 199 people, killing at least 50 people and injuring four others. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Michael Keating, said 145 villagers remain missing and are presumed to have been killed as well, which would raise the total death toll to 195.

"This tragedy is likely to be one of many in the near future. Heavy snows will result not just in avalanches but also, in a few weeks' time, severe flooding in many parts of the country," Keating said. "Every effort is being made to minimize loss of life through emergency preparedness such as prepositioning of food, shelter and medicine, good information sharing and coordination among those actors able to respond."

Dozens of people from a nearby village began a search-and-rescue operation on Tuesday, but rescue efforts from the outside world have been severely hampered by the difficult conditions in the region. Roads from neighboring Tajikistan have been blocked by snow and helicopters cannot be used because they could trigger further avalanches.

Mountainous regions in Afghanistan are prone to avalanches. In January of this year, at least 49 people were killed when a series of avalanches devastated a number of villages in Badakhshan province. More than 500 houses were buried under the snow, including up to 80 houses in Zech village alone.

And in February 2010, more than 170 people were killed when a series of avalanches struck the Salang Pass, a major mountain pass which connects northern Afghanistan and the Afghan capital of Kabul.

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