PESHAWAR, Feb 7, 2022: Some 20 people are believed to have been buried under snow following a deadly avalanche. Rescue workers are still digging bodies out.
At least 15 people were killed after being buried by an avalanche in eastern Afghanistan, state-run news agency Bakhtar reported on Monday.
The incident happened in the province of Kunar, close to the border with Pakistan. An official from the province told German news agency dpa that the avalanche occurred on Sunday evening.
Officials reported that 20 people had been hit by the avalanche, but so far only 15 bodies had been found.
Remote border crossing
A Taliban official told AFP that the victims had been caught by the snow in a remote mountain pass while trying to get into Pakistan.
The province official said that some of the victims had been local villagers who had also become trapped after trying to help.
Rescue workers were still searching for more bodies.
The movement of people across the largely porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border is continuous, often with Afghans crossing to look for jobs or to buy goods.
Pakistan is trying to build a fence along the 2,670-kilometer (1,660-mile) border to stem to flow of migrants.