15 dead in Tajikistan avalanche

DUSHANBE: At least 15 people were killed when an avalanche swept down onto a road linking capital Dushanbe with northern Tajikistan, the Central Asian state's interior ministry was quoted as saying on Saturday.

"We extracted 15 bodies from underneath the snow, it is unknown how many remain there," the ministry's spokesman Khudoinazar Asoyev said.

"A massive avalanche Friday closed off a mountain road, trapping large cargo trucks travelling from the north to Dushanbe. Yet another avalanche crashed down on the vehicles when they stopped," Asoyev added.

The country's emergency situations ministry so far confirmed only two casualties.