Avalanche kills 35 in Afghanistan

KABUL - At least 35 people were killed in an avalanche in Afghanistan’s northeast Badakhshan province, an official said Tuesday.

Five people were injured and around 40 houses were damaged in the avalanche, provincial administration spokesman Abdul Marouf Rasikh said.

“The natural disaster hit several houses in Zorbadod village of the mountainous Arghonjkha district a couple of days ago and killed 35 people including women and childen,” Rasikh was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

More than 70 people have lost their lives due to cold weather conditions in Badakhshan while some 200 others were killed in the mountainous Salang Pass, 85 km from Kabul, over the past few months.