An avalanche killed at least 30 people in Afghanistan

KABUL - An avalanche killed at least 30 people Monday and wounded 70 others in northern Afghanistan, said Tuesday the Department of Defense.

•    "Since Monday afternoon and so far, about 1,500 people stranded by flood have been rescued, nearly 70 were injured and 30 died," said the Ministry of Defense in a statement. The department had earlier spoken of 28 dead.
  
  
•    The accident occurred in the Salang passage, which connects the capital Kabul to the north.
  
  
•    The Ministry of Health has announced 15 dead in those storms: 10 in a car swept away by the avalanche in Salang, five in their cars buried under the snow that fell heavily, said spokesman for the department, Ahmad Farid Rahid.
  
  
•    On Monday, authorities had already declared at least 20 people died in one week in snowfall, avalanches, floods and other mudslides across the country.
  
  
• Ennaharonline/ M. O.