171 killed in Afghan avalanche

The death toll from a series of avalanches in Afghanistan, has risen to 171. Rescue teams are still searching through mounds of snow, but hope of finding more survivors is fading.

Hundreds of soldiers and police are ploughing through huge snowdrifts to clear the Salang Pass. Some 3-thousand people have already been rescued.

The avalanches buried dozens of cars, freezing to death, many of those trapped inside. Satellite imagery has pinpointed another eight vehicles buried deep in the mountain gorge.

The Afghan Defense Ministry will ask the international coalition for additional equipment, including metal detectors, to aid the search. It's the deadliest disaster to occur along the Salang Pass.

Members of the Afghan army are seen during a searching operation of avalanche victims in Salang Pass, some 115 kilometers (71 miles) north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)