18 killed in another Afghanistan avalanche

At least 18 people were killed and 10 wounded after an avalanche hit a village in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, the latest in a string of casualties caused by natural disasters within the past few days, authorities said Thursday.

"Locals uncovered 18 bodies and rescued 10 wounded people after the avalanche struck parts of Tang Shewa village in Mahmay district in the wee hours of Thursday," Sayyed Abdullah Dehqan, head of the provincial disaster management authority, told Xinhua news agency.

Our rescue teams are trying to ferry relief for hundreds of people stuck in open areas around the village in the mountainous province, he said.

The toll in Afghanistan's recent avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall has risen to over 200, with dozens still trapped or missing as a result of the disasters, media quoted unnamed officials as saying earlier in the day.

Earlier Thursday, police and locals rescued several hundred commuters, who were stranded along main roads in central Bamyan and western Badghis provinces.