Eight dead, others trapped under avalanche in eastern Turkey -hospital

Eight people died after an avalanche hit eastern Turkey on Wednesday, the local hospital said, while the Turkish interior minister was quoted as saying 10-15 people were still trapped under the snow. Meki Arvas, mayor of a district in the eastern province of Van, was quoted by broadcaster NTV as saying a team of 300 people had been working to rescue people trapped under an earlier avalanche on Tuesday when a second snowslide occurred.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said 30 people had been rescued.