Hope fades as Afghan avalanche toll hits 171

Using bulldozers, shovels, and satellite images, rescue teams dug through mounds of snow Thursday searching for victims of an avalanche disaster in Afghanistan as the death toll rose to 171 and the hope of finding more survivors faded.

Some 3,000 people have already been rescued from the snowbound, 12,700-foot (3,800-meter) -high Salang Pass, which is the major route through the Hindu Kush mountains that connects the capital to the north.

Public Works Minister Suhrab Ali Safari said five more bodies were discovered Thursday on the pass, 70 miles (115 kilometers) north of the capital, bringing the total to 171. It was unclear how many more bodies may be buried in the snow.

Sniffer dogs, usually used in de-mining efforts, were brought in to help rescuers locate more victims as satellite imagery pinpointed eight more vehicles buried deep in the mountain gorge, he said. However, fresh snowfall and darkened skies brought a halt to efforts for the day, though the rescue operation is "not yet finished," he said.

Defense Ministry official Ahmad Zia Aftali said the Afghan side plans to ask the international coalition for additional equipment, including metal detectors, to aid the search. He said they did not expect to find anyone still alive.

Hundreds of soldiers and police plowed through huge snowdrifts to clear the 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) of road that had been blocked off when a series of avalanches Monday sent tons of snow and ice crashing down onto hundreds of vehicles along a treacherous stretch of highway.

The avalanches had pushed vehicles hundreds of feet (meters) from the road and covered them so it was likely there were still many cars submerged in snow that they had not reached, Aftali said.

Though the road has now been cleared, it remains closed to the public to allow for emergency efforts, Aftali said. The highway that winds through the mountainside remains littered with abandoned or snow-packed cars.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashary said late Wednesday that the rescue operation was "95 percent over."

He said some of the victims were found frozen to death inside their vehicles. Other bodies were strewn along the road. He said about 125 people were given medical treatment at provincial hospitals.

The avalanches have closed off the 1.6 mile (2.6 kilometer)-long Salang Tunnel, a Soviet-built landmark dating from the 1960s, and the roads on both sides.

The casualty toll makes this perhaps the deadliest disaster to occur along the Salang Pass. Last year, avalanches claimed nearly a dozen lives.