Avalanches Kill 100 In Afghanistan, Pakistan

In this photo via the BBC rescuers in Pakistan struggle
through snow to try to reach areas hit by deadly avalanches

This seems to be the winter of tragic avalanches, with news of another such disaster in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

At least 100 people were reported dead in the avalanches, which hit after repeated bouts of heavy snow in the region, especially in the mountainous border area between the two countries, the BBC reported.

Afghanistan disaster ministers said two entire villages were buried beneath the snow slides.

The death toll is likely to rise because relief officials are having trouble getting to the affected area due to snow-blocked roads and continued snowstorms.

That the snow is continuing to fall heavily also means there's a high risk of more avalanches.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, scores of motorists were stranded without food on the Kabul-Kandahar highway because of snow. At least two of those motorists froze to death, says the BBC.

The main airport in Kabul was also closed by snow.

The avalanche disaster in Afghanistan and Pakistan comes less than a month after an avalanche slammed into an Italian mountain resort. That disaster killed 29 people, though 11 others were pulled alive from the snow-shattered hotel.

On Saturday, seven skiers in the Italian Alps went missing after an avalanche struck them. They were initially feared dead, but rescuers found them alive.