Avalanches triggered by warm weather following heavy snowfall have killed at least seven people in Tajikistan's mountainous south.

A spokeswoman for Tajikistan's Emergencies Committee, Umeda Yusufova, told RFE/RL on January 30 that the death toll may rise as rescue teams continue working on the Dushanbe-Khujand highway and in the Gorno-Badakhshan region, where more than 40 major avalanches were registered over the weekend.

Officials said some 500 people stranded in their cars after avalanches blocked the highway were rescued on January 28.

Mountains cover 93 percent of the Central Asian nation, and avalanches and mudslides kill dozens of people every year.</s>Authorities in Tajikistan said Monday that at least seven people were killed in a series of avalanches that hit the mountainous Central Asian country over the weekend.

Avalanches killed at least five people on a highway linking the capital Dushanbe with Khujand, Tajikistan's second largest city, the emergency services committee said.

Two more died in avalanches in the remote Pamir region in the country's east, the committee said.

Authorities said a rescue operation was ongoing and the casualty toll could continue to rise.

A spokesperson for the committee told AFP around 800 people had been evacuated Sunday following the avalanches.

Mountainous and poverty-struck Tajikistan is prone to natural disasters including avalanches, landslides and earthquakes.

In February 2015, a single avalanche claimed six lives in the east of the country.</s>Two more died in avalanches in the remote Pamir region in the country’s east, the committee said. Authorities said a rescue operation was ongoing and the casualty toll could continue to rise. Two more died in avalanches in the remote Pamir region in the country’s east, the committee said. Authorities said a rescue operation was ongoing and the casualty toll could continue to rise.

Authorities in Tajikistan said on Monday that at least seven people were killed in a series of avalanches that hit the mountainous Central Asian country over the weekend. Avalanches killed at least five people on a highway linking the capital Dushanbe with Khujand, Tajikistan’s second largest city, the emergency services committee said.

Two more died in avalanches in the remote Pamir region in the country’s east, the committee said. Authorities said a rescue operation was ongoing and the casualty toll could continue to rise.

A spokesperson for the committee told AFP around 800 people had been evacuated Sunday following the avalanches. Mountainous and poverty-struck Tajikistan is prone to natural disasters including avalanches, landslides and earthquakes. In February 2015, a single avalanche claimed six lives in the east of the country.</s>The spokeswoman of the country’s Committee for Emergency Situations said that at least seven people were killed in Tajikistan after a series of avalanches hit the Central Asian republic.

DUSHANBE (Sputnik) – At least seven people were killed in Tajikistan after a series of avalanches hit the Central Asian republic on Sunday and Monday, the spokeswoman of the country’s Committee for Emergency Situations (CoES) told Sputnik Monday.

“[A total of] five people were killed by the avalanches that hit the Dushanbe-Khujand route and two more on the Khorog-Murghab roads,” Umeda Yusupova said.</s>"[A total of] five people were killed by the avalanches that hit the Dushanbe-Khujand route and two more on the Khorog-Murghab roads," Umeda Yusupova said.

She added that following the avalanches, the country's authorities had evacuated up to 800 people and 200 cars from the affected areas.

The CoES calls on the residents of the country, as well as on the visitors of Tajikistan to refrain from traveling to the avalanche zones, because of the existing threat of a natural disaster, the spokeswoman said.

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Several avalanches in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan, caused by heavy snowfall over the weekend, leave at least seven people dead.