ANKARA
Turkey expressed its condolences on Wednesday to the Afghan people after two avalanche disasters shook the country, claiming over 100 lives.
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, according to Afghan officials.
"Turkey shares the grief of the Afghan people, with whom we have always been together in joyful and sad times," the foreign ministry said late Wednesday.
The ministry offered condolences to the victims' families, wished a fast recovery to those injured and for missing people to be found.
Afghanistan’s Natural Disaster Management Authority's senior official, Mohammad Aslam Sayas, told AA that at least 101 people were confirmed dead in the 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.
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.
