Snow blocks several roads in Takhar, Samangan

TALOQAN/AIBAK (PAN): Heavy snowfall has blocked several roads connecting 80 villages in two districts of northern Takhar and Samangan provinces, officials said on Wednesday.

More than 150,000 people living in 80 villages in Rustaq district of Takhar could not travel to the district headquarters due to road blockades following heavy snowfall in the Azzum Pass of the district, Rustaq district chief, Malim Hussain, said.

“It is still snowing in the area and police are busy clearing the access roads, but the non-stop snowing has made it difficult for rescue teams to clear the roads,” Hussain said.

The governor’s spokesman, Faiz Mohammad Tawhidi, also confirmed road blockades.

A rescue team had been sent to the area, where 20 vehicles buried under snow were recovered, he said.

“If the snow continues to fall, it would create a lot of problems for area people,” Abdul Zahir, a resident of Rustaq district said. He thanked officials for help.

In the neighbouring Samangan province, where the snow started falling since last night has also blocked a link road leading to a coalmine in Dara-i-Soff Bala district, the district chief, Ahmad Ali Hussaini, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Residents of Dara-i-Soff Bala were unable to go to the coal mine in Ghulam Ali Pass, where a number of vehicles carrying coal were left stranded due to the snowfall, Hussaini said.

Public Works Director Zia Humayoon, said they were trying to reopen the link road as soon as possible.

frm/ma

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