The death toll from the Salang Tunnel fire climbed to at least 70 with over 40 others wounded on Monday, sources from the Taliban confirmed.
The inferno happened on Saturday night when an oil tanker caught fire and exploded in the tunnel. At least 12 vehicles were destroyed in the fire. Children were also among the victims.
The Salang Pass is still closed to traffic after the incident that affected passengers traveling on both sides of the tunnel.
The Taliban’s defense ministry said a helicopter and forces had been sent to help those stranded at both ends of the tunnel on Sunday.
The Salang Tunnel is a 2.67-kilometer-long tunnel located along the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains, between Parwan and Baghlan provinces in Afghanistan, about 90 kilometers north of the city of Kabul.
This is one of the worst incidents after a tunnel fire in November 1982 left at least 3,000 people dead.
