Afghanistan's mountainous regions suffer below-freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall each year, blocking transport and leading to hundreds of deaths annually. Even the pace of war normally slows during winter.
Earlier this week, precipitation triggered a series of avalanches at a mountain pass north of Kabul, and the Interior Ministry says at least 157 people have been found dead so far. Rescuers are still digging for survivors, and dozens of people are feared trapped in their vehicles.
Altaf Qadri, AP
Afghan people wait to board army trucks after heavy snow caused an avalanche in the Salang Pass, north of Kabul, Tuesday.
The snow began cascading down Monday from peaks towering above the capital, and buried the Salang Pass – a key road that connects Kabul with northern areas. Some stretches of the road reach an elevation of 12,700 feet – making them vulnerable to fierce winds and snow.
Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary told reporters today that 157 bodies have been recovered so far. About 2,600 people have been rescued alive, and 1.6 miles of road have been cleared for ambulances and bulldozers to get through, he said. His comments were carried by several news agencies.
Gen. Mohammad Rajab, head of the Kabul-Salang highway, told Reuters "the rescue operation is still ongoing and the death toll may rise as we dig out dozens of other frozen bodies."
"There are many other cars swept away...by avalanches and we're trying to rescue if anyone is still alive," Rajab said.
Up to 1,000 Afghan troops have cleared a narrow footpath for survivors to walk to safety, alongside miles of cars abandoned in the snow. Troops and survivors carried the injured and elderly for miles on their backs. Afghan army helicopters swooped down every few minutes to carry corpses to lower ground, the New York Times reported.
President Hamid Karzai ordered officials "to use all possible means to get the roads unblocked and rescue those trapped and stranded in the heavy snow," according to a statement issued by his office.
A Reuters correspondent also reported seeing survivors inside a passenger bus that was swept away into a steep gorge. People below were shouting for help. Several cars and at least two other buses had also slipped off the cliff.
A villager who goes by the single moniker of Azizullah told the Times that people in his village tried on Tuesday to reach one of the fallen buses and found 14 people who survived because of an air pocket under the snow. But 41 other passengers died, he said.
There were reports from Afghan news agencies that people were also trapped inside a tunnel that burrows through the Hindu Kush mountains at the Salang Pass. Victims were calling for help on cell phones and saying they were freezing to death or choking on exhaust fumes, the Times reported.
The tunnel was built by the Soviets in 1964 and is badly in need of repair. In 1982 during the Soviet occupation, scores of troops died in a fire that trapped them in the narrow, poorly ventilated tunnel.
