Thirty-seven people were also injured in the accident
The death toll has risen to 31 after a tanker overturned and caught fire in a tunnel at the Salang Pass in a mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan, a health ministry spokesman said today, giving an update on the tragedy.
Thirty-seven people were also injured in the accident, according to Public Health Ministry spokesman Sarafat Zaman.
On Saturday night, “a tanker overturned and caught fire inside the Salang tunnel, and the fire spread to several other vehicles,” Public Works Ministry spokesman Hamidullah Misbaz said yesterday. Hekmatullah Samim, the spokesman for the governor of Parwan province, gave a tally of 19 dead and 32 wounded on Sunday.
According to a provincial health official, Abdullah Afghan Mal, “many women and children who suffered severe burns” were among the dead.
Traffic in the Salang tunnel, located about 90 km north of Kabul, remained closed today.
The Salang Pass, one of the highest mountain roads on the planet (3,650 meters), was built by Soviet specialists in the 1950s. It includes a 2.6-kilometer tunnel that crosses the Hindu Kush, connecting Kabul with the north of the country.
The numerous traffic accidents, heavy snowfalls and avalanches in winter force the authorities to regularly close the tunnel for several days.
In 2010, more than 150 people were killed in avalanches at Salang Pass.
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