Freezing weather kills 27 Afghan children

All the children were under the age of five, said the district governor who added that the blocked roads mean the toll could still increase.

An Afghan man caries gas cylinder on his shoulder on the snowy day on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan January 24, 2017. Omar Sobhani/Reuters

Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan // Heavy snowfall and freezing weather has killed 27 children, all under the age of five, in a remote district in northern Afghanistan, and there are fears the toll could rise.

Roads in Darzaab in northern Jawzjan province were blocked by 50 centimetres of snow, cutting off access for villagers in the area to medical care as temperatures plunged to -10°C.

“Unfortunately we have 27 children killed due to heavy snowfall and freezing weather,” district governor Rahmatullah Hashar said on Thursday.

He said the deaths occurred over the previous two or three days

All the children were under the age of five, he said, adding the blocked roads mean the toll could still increase.

The deaths were confirmed by the Jawzjan provincial governor’s spokesman, Reza Ghafoori, who said aid would be delivered through emergency committees.

Heavy snowfall and avalanches kill scores of people in Afghanistan each winter.

Avalanches killed about 300 people in 2015, most of them in the mountainous province of Panjshir, north of Kabul.

Rescue efforts after disasters such as avalanches and flash floods, which often hit as snows melt in the spring, are frequently hampered by lack of equipment.

Poor infrastructure makes it difficult for rescue teams to reach isolated areas.

* Agence France-Presse