(Reuters) — Dozens of people in Afghanistan were killed after heavy snow and avalanches hit over the weekend (February 4-5).
In the northern province of Badakhshan, as many as 19 people were killed and 17 injured due to avalanches, collapsed roofs and road accidents, said Naweed Frotan, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
The government was working to reach at least 12 districts in Badakhshan that had been completely cut off, he said.
In eastern Afghanistan, at least 50 people died and dozens more were missing on Sunday after an avalanche buried a village in Nuristan, provincial governor Hafiz Abdul Qayum said.
At least five other deaths from collapsed roofs were reported elsewhere in Nuristan.
Heavy snow also blanketed the Afghan capital of Kabul, where the government closed its offices on Sunday, and wreaked havoc on major roads in the country, including the Kabul-Kandahar Highway and the Salang pass north of Kabul.