Search
and rescue work continue at the site in the Bahcesaray district of Turkey's
eastern Van province Two avalanches in eastern Turkey have killed 38 people,
most of them buried by the second deluge of snow while working to rescue
victims of the first.
Fifty-three
people were injured, it said.
TV
footage from Bahcesaray district in the eastern province of Van showed dozens
of people using shovels and sticks in snowfall and high winds to dig out
vehicles that had been buried and toppled in the avalanche, which occurred
yesterday evening.
Van
governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said that rescue efforts were continuing but did
not say how many people werestill believed to be trapped.
Interior
Minister Suleyman Soylu said conditions in the area made it difficult for
rescue vehicles to operate, adding that a vehicle had been pulled out from
under 4-5 metres of snow.
Osman
Ucar, head of AFAD's Van office, was hospitalised after being caught in the
avalanche.
He
told Ihlas News Agency from hospital that some 200 people were working in the
rescue operation, but many were out of the immediate area when the second
avalanche hit today.
"I
was halfway buried in snow," he said. "I got out by my own
means."
ENDS:
No comments:
Post a Comment