A landslide in a remote northeastern province killed at least 52 residents Tuesday, a provincial official told AP.
Mohammed Islam Sayad, deputy head of Afghanistan's National Management Authority, said the avalanche only struck one village but it was likely to have been wiped it out.
The province of Badakhshan is cut off from the rest of the country and only accessible by helicopter, making rescue efforts in the area difficult, provincial governor Shah Waliulah Adeeb said. Badahkshan is the poorest province in the country, often affected by avalanches when snow melts in the spring.
"We won't be able to get there today," Adeeb told AP. "We are preparing to go to the area and are waiting for the choppers to get us there."
Badakhshan, in the Hindu and Pamir mountain ranges, has seen deforestation and lack of infrastracture contributing to the landslides. In May a major landslide killed 350 people in the province.
