The death toll due to heavy snow hitting Afghanistan rose to 44 on Sunday, while several roads remained closed for a second consecutive day and hindered rescue operations, officials told EFE.
Omar Mohammadi, spokesperson for the State Ministry for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs, said the snowstorms have affected 19 of the 34 Afghan provinces over the past three days.
Fifty houses have been destroyed by avalanches that have caused the deaths of about 600 cattle, Mohammadi added. Spokesperson for the provincial governor, Navid Farotan said that 22 of the fatalities occurred in the remote Badakhshan province, where the roads in 12 districts remained closed.
In Parwan province, bordering Kabul, 12 people were killed in two avalanches, spokesman for the governor of Parwan province Waheed Sediqi said. Sediqi said 30 houses were destroyed, noting rescue teams had been sent to the affected areas.
The government decided to declare Sunday a holiday due to the bad weather that closed roads and created other problems, Shah Hussain Murtazavi, deputy Spokesman for the Afghan president told EFE.
Last year, one of the worst snowstorms in 30 years took place in the country, killing at least 245 people and injuring 66 others.
