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(CNN) - At least 77 people died and 94 were injured in northeastern Pakistan, after a series of avalanches that destroyed and buried several houses.
The avalanches were caused by heavy snowfall in the Neelum Valley in Kashmir, administered by Pakistan, according to local authorities.
Dozens of houses would have been destroyed and buried by snow, and most of the dead and wounded were in their homes when the avalanches occurred, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, state minister for disaster management and rehabilitation on Tuesday.
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The injured victims of the avalanche arrived in Muzaffarabad in an army helicopter after a heavy snowfall in the Neelum Valley in Kashmir on January 14, 2020.
The number of deaths could increase, as there is a fear that many people are still trapped.
As a result, desperate villagers began search and rescue with shovels and digging through the deep snow to try to find people buried by the avalanche.
Emergency personnel are also on the ground responding to the crisis. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday that he had asked the National Disaster Agency for military and federal ministers to provide humanitarian assistance to affected residents.
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The avalanches were caused by heavy snowfall in the Neelum Valley, Kashmir, administered by Pakistan.
Several of the injured were transported by army helicopters to the region's capital, Muzaffarabad, for treatment, and more helicopters will launch essential food and supplies to snow-isolated residents.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the region's prime minister, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, expressed his condolences to those affected, adding that his administration "would do everything necessary to alleviate the sufferings of the affected population."
Avalanches occur during one of the hardest winters in 20 years. Daily life in Kashmir had been severely affected, with snow-blocked roads, fallen communication services and interruptions in the supply of electricity.
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Authorities fear there are more dead people buried under snow
On the other hand, in the province of Baluchistan, in the southwest of the country, 16 people died within 48 hours this week due to incidents related to rain and snow, said Imran Zarkoon of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority.
Heavy snowfall is normal for this time of year, said Zaheer Ahmed, director of the National Weather Forecast Center in the capital, Islamabad. But "due to climate change, this year the intensity of the cold is much higher than in previous years."
- Sajjad Qayyum of CNN contributed to this report.
Natural disasters
