DUSHANBE, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Emergency workers rescued 18 out of a group of 36 people trapped under an avalanche that hit Tajikistan Wednesday morning, the republic's Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The ministry reported earlier that a major avalanche had engulfed a group of 38 people in the Jirgital Region, 250 km (160 miles) southeast of Dushanbe, the capital of the Central Asian republic. It was later established that the avalanche hit residences housing 36 instead of 38 people, the ministry added.
Seven of the 18 rescued were hospitalized with frostbite and other injuries, the ministry said.
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov offered his condolences to the families and relatives of the 12 people killed by the natural disaster.
