Four dead and 300 rescued after Afghan avalanche

Rescue teams have confirmed four people have been discovered dead after a snow avalanche blocked a road tunnel in Afghanistan.

Around 100 people were trapped in vehicles for more than a day in temperatures plunging to minus-40 after the fall of snow.

About 100 more victims were later freed from vehicles outside the tunnel by workers battling winds of up to 55 mph.

Three of the dead suffocated inside the Salang Tunnel in the Hindu Kush mountains and the fourth was trapped in a car outside.

The rescue teams included US soldiers and workers from HALO Trust, an international mine-clearing organization active in the area.

Some 50 to 60 people were treated at a field clinic at Jabal Saraj, between Kabul and the tunnel, said Paul Barnard, a spokesman for the international peacekeeping force in Kabul. Most were suffering from frostbite and dehydration.

Substantial snowfalls in recent days in Kabul and other parts of the country have blocked aid from reaching some remote regions.