Ayaz Gul / VOA News
February 5, 2017
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Officials in Afghanistan say an avalanche caused by heavy snowfall struck a remote village Sunday in the eastern province of Nuristan, killing at least 50 people, and raising the nationwide death toll in the past three days to nearly 100 in such incidents.
Another avalanche hit a village around the same time in the adjoining northern Chitral region of neighboring Pakistan, killing at least 16 people, local officials confirmed.
Disaster management authorities say deaths have occurred in 22 of the 34 Afghan provinces receiving unprecedented snowfall.
Scores of people have been injured and there has been serious damage to property, they added.
The Afghan government declared Sunday a national holiday after heavy snow blocked roads making travel difficult.Sunday normally is a regular working day in Afghanistan.
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