DUSHANBE, February 21, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Tuesday morning, the Tajik authorities sent food assistance to people trapped by avalanches on the Anzob Pass.

Orif Nozimov, a spokesman for the Committee for Emergency Situations (CES), says a series of avalanches have left some 200 people trapped for hours before rescue teams delivered food assistance to them.

“The assistance included 1,000 loafs of bread, 300 canned meat and vegetables, 300 kilograms of wheat flour, 32 kilograms of macaroni, 32 kilograms of sugar, 32 kilograms of vegetable oil and 32 kilograms of tea,” the spokesman said, noting that special machines of different ministries and organizations have been involved in releasing people from the snow captivity.  No injured was reported, according the source.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Transport, Khudoyor Khudoyorov, says 12 special machines of the Ministry of Transport and the Innovative Road Solutions (IRS) Company are currently working at the avalanche site to clear the road of snow.

We will recall that the CES on February 20 released an avalanche risk warning.  The committee advised drivers not to travel unnecessarily to Gorno Badakhshan, Sughd province and Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan) until February 23 because there is risk of further avalanches in these areas.

According to the emergency authorities, recent torrential rail and heavy snowfalls have caused a series of avalanches that blocked in several places the highways connected Dushanbe to the mentioned regions and the risk of further avalanches in the areas remains high.