16 missing in Afghan avalanche

KABUL—Eight people were killed and as many others were missing after an avalanche engulfed a village in remote northeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the interior ministry said. Fifty people were initially trapped by the avalanche, the first this winter in the remote and mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan, but most were rescued by police and villagers, it said in a statement.
“Eight people were killed, four wounded and eight others are missing,” the statement said. Badakhshan, a mountainous region on the border with China and Tajikistan, sees frequent natural disasters such as floods and avalanches. Dozens of people were killed in such incidents last year.—Agencies