Sixteen believed dead in Tajik avalanche

Five bodies have been recovered and there are fears for eleven people believed to be trapped in their vehicles by snow following an avalanche on a mountain highway in Tajikistan.

Snow buried cars along part of the road connecting the capital, Dushanbe, and the country's second-largest city, Khudjand.

Previously the highway was closed for the winter but was kept open this year after the completion of a new tunnel.