Three people were killed and one other injured Saturday (February 25) evening as a car got buried by an avalanche at the Shahriston Pass, the branch of the Innovative Road Solutions (IRS) company, which operates a 354-kilometer toll road connecting Dushanbe and Uzbekistan border through the northern province of Sughd, wrote on its Facebook page.  

The tragedy reportedly took place on the 157th kilometer of the Dushanbe-Chanak highway.  “Three people were killed and one other injured after Musso carrying passengers was trapped in an avalanche,” says IRS branch.  “Three people were killed and one other passenger sustained various injuries and was taken to the Shahriston central district hospital.” 

The highway has reportedly been cleared of the snow and it is now open for traffic

These three deaths have brought the total number of people killed by avalanches in Tajikistan this month to 22. 

Recall, avalanches in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, or GBAO, claimed at least 18 lives on February 15 and 16.  The dead reportedly are known to include two children, three schoolchildren and nine students.

Besides, one more person was killed by an avalanche in Varzob district on February 15 in Varzob district, on a highway linking the capital, Dushanbe, to Tajikistan’s second city, Khujand.

Mountains cover 93 percent of Tajikistan’s territory, and avalanches and mudslides kill dozens of people every year.