Avalanches kill nearly 40 in eastern Turkey

At least 33 people were killed in eastern Turkey Wednesday by a second avalanche which buried a team of rescuers searching for people hit by the first the day before. The bodies of 33 rescue workers and civilians were discovered in Van province, where they had been helping dig out a minibus buried by snow late Tuesday, the government's disaster agency AFAD said.

Five people aboard the vehicle were killed, taking the overall toll to 38. Eight people had been rescued alive from the first avalanche.

Television images showed dozens of people scrambling up the mountains, digging through snow in blizzards to find those trapped under the snow.

The number of those injured was 53 in total after the second avalanche hit after 0900 GMT between Bahcesaray and Catak districts, AFAD said.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca warned the number of casualties could rise as local media reported an unknown number of people could still be under the snow.

The rescuers had been searching for two people from Tuesday's incident, AFAD's Van province chairman Osman Ucar told reporters from his hospital bed.