Heavy snowfall on February 4 caused a series of snow-slides that blocked in several places the highway connecting Dushanbe and the northern city of Khujand.
“More than 10 avalanches occurred in the Varzob district yesterday blocking the Dushanbe-Khujand highway in several places on the section from the 47th kilometer to the 81st kilometer,” says the press center of the Branch of the Innovative Roads Solutions (IRS) Company in Tajikistan, which operates the toll on the Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway.
Recall, at least eight people were killed in snow avalanches in Tajikistan last month. More than 110 snow-slides were registered in the country in January. The Emergencies Committee has reportedly set up mobile rescue teams numbering 4 to 6 people each to closely monitor the situation and ensure safety of traffic on the most vulnerable sections of the highways connecting Dushanbe and Khujand (the 62nd and 72nd kilometers in the Varzob district) and the highway connecting Dushanbe and Khorog (the 457th kilometer in the Vanj district, GBAO).
Besides, rescuers from the Emergencies Committee’s office in Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan) jointly with members of the Unified Disaster Warning System in the Rasht zone are closely monitoring the situation on the roads in the area, Yusufi said.
Mountains cover 93 percent of Tajikistan, and avalanches and mudslides kill dozens of people every year.
