THIRTEEN people are dead and 20 missing after rescuers were buried alive by a second avalanche while hunting for survivors already under the snow in Turkey.
Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said 25 emergency service members were rescued from under the snow and taken to hospital on Wednesday. There was no information on their conditions.
The emergency services were called to a highway near the mountain-surrounded town of Bahcesehir, in Van province, which borders Iran, after an initial avalanche struck the road late on Tuesday.
A minibus and a snow-clearing vehicle were buried by the first avalanche in Van province, close to the mountain town of Bahcesaray and the iranian border. The vehicle’s operator and seven passengers escaped alive.
Five people were killed in the initial avalanche and two others were missing, prompting an urgent 300-man rescue mission to find the missing pair.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the snow clearing operator, Bahattin Karagulle, was trapped beneath the snow for 25 minutes before he managed to break a window and escape.
He walked toward a village before he was picked up by a vehicle and managed to seek help.
The second avalanche hit the 300 rescue workers who were operating in heavy snow and fog.
Eight of those rescue workers are confirmed dead with 20 still missing according to the latest reports from area officials, bringing the total lives lost from the avalanches to 13.
More to follow…
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