Death toll in Afghanistan avalanche crosses 100

PANJSHER, Afghanistan

The death toll in Afghanistan's avalanche disaster in its mountainous north has reached at least 114, including 101 in Panjshir and 13 in Parwan provinces, Afghan officials said Wednesday.

Governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri told AA that at least 101 people were killed and scores others injured in his avalanche-hit Panjshir province, while more than 100 others were feared missing.

Kabiri complained that local authorities in Panjshir were not getting enough help from the central Afghan government.

Afghanistan’s Natural Disaster Management Authority's senior official Mohammad Aslam Sayas told AA that at least 91 people were confirmed dead in Panjshir avalanches. Sayas said that another 13 people were also killed in separate avalanches in Parwan province, some 60 kilometers north of capital Kabul Wednesday.

Eight people were also killed in heavy rains and snowfall in eastern Nangahar and Laghman provinces Wednesday, he added.

Local Afghans along with government workers were carrying out rescue operations in the disaster areas since Wednesday morning.

Fazul Rahim, a local from Khenj district, told AA via phone that at least 13 people were killed in his single village alone; two of his cousins were among the dead.

Earlier Wednesday, the Afghan National Army said it rescued over 100 people, including women and children who were trapped in avalanche-hit Kotal Sabzak Pass, between western Herat and Badghis provinces.

Sayas also said that at least 39 other people were reported dead in snow related incidents across Afghanistan until Tuesday afternoon.