166 killed in avalanche

HELICOPTERS ferried rescuers to and bodies away from the site of a massive avalanche that blocked an important mountain pass 115km north of Kabul as the death toll soared yesterday to 166, officials said.

Hundreds more remained trapped in snowbound cars.

Afghan troops dug through huge snowdrifts trying to rescue people from buried vehicles in the Salang Pass, a key road that connects the Afghan capital with the north.