2010 Salang avalanches

2010 Salang avalanches
Entrance of the Salang Tunnel
Date8 February 2010 (2010-02-08)[1]
LocationSouthern Salang Pass, Parwan Province, Afghanistan
Deaths175[1]

The 2010 Salang avalanches (Dari: برف‌کوچ‌های سالنگ, Pashto: سالنګ کې د واورې ښوئېدنې) consisted of a series of at least 36 avalanches[2] that struck the southern approach to the Salang Tunnel, north of Kabul.[3][4][5] They were caused by a freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference IRIN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Kabul fears avalanche toll could rise Archived 31 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Rod Norland (9 February 2010). "Avalanches Kill Dozens on Mountain Highway in Afghanistan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010. Heavy winds and rain set off 17 avalanches that buried more than two miles of highway at a high-altitude pass in the Hindu Kush mountain range, entombing hundreds of cars and cutting off Kabul's heavily traveled link to northern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.
  4. ^ a b Rahim Faiez (9 February 2010). "Avalanches swamp Afghan pass: Scores of bodies pulled from cars as coalition joins search for injured". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010. A series of avalanches engulfed a mountain pass in Afghanistan, trapping hundreds of people in their buried cars and killing at least 24 people, authorities said Tuesday.
  5. ^ a b Ahmed Hanayesh, Ron Synovitz (10 February 2010). "From Afghan Avalanche, Tales Of Tragedy And Survival". Radio Free Europe. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010. By the evening of February 10, authorities had recovered the bodies of more than 160 victims buried by a series of avalanches. The stories told to RFE/RL by survivors suggest the death toll could rise as search teams continue their work – and when the spring thaw reveals the full of extent of epic precautions extent of the tragedy. The first avalanche blocked the highway just south of the Salang Tunnel. As the traffic began to pile up, travelers in cars, trucks, and buses found themselves trapped in a deadly avalanche zone. Then, one after another, as many as 16 more avalanches wiped their vehicles off the road.
  6. ^ Officials: Afghan avalanches kill 157 people