Dozens die in winter weather

At least 37 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan have died in avalanches, collapsed houses and road accidents over the past few days as heavy snow blankets several regions in the two countries.

Northern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province has been particularly badly hit, with as many as 19 people dying as a result of the winter weather since Friday, according to officials.

The government was trying to reach at least 12 districts in the province that had been completely cut off, said a spokesman for the provincial governor, Naweed Frotan.

A spokesman for the Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) said 22 of the country's 34 provinces had experienced heavy snow, and that avalanches had destroyed some 20 homes. Another 50 had been heavily damaged, he said.

He added that many roads, especially in central and northern Afghanistan, remained closed.

The international airport in the capital, Kabul, was also closed, and the government declared a nationwide holiday on Sunday owing to the wintery conditions.

Deaths in Pakistan

The weather has also had calamitous effects across the border in Pakistan, where at least nine people, including children, were killed by an avalanche that hit a village of 25 houses in the northern district of Chitral.

District official Syed Maghferat Shah said as many as 14 residents were still believed to be trapped in collapsed houses.

tj/jlw (Reuters, dpa, AP)