Avalanches caused by heavy snow have killed at least 10 people in Tajikistan's eastern Gorno-Badakhshan region. The Committee for Emergencies said on February 15 that an avalanche destroyed several buildings in the region's capital, Khorugh, killing eight people. According to the committee, avalanches killed two other people in the town of Vanj and on a highway linking the capital, Dushanbe, with the city of Varzob. Mountains cover 93 percent of the Central Asian country's territory, and avalanches and mudslides kill dozens of people every year.
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