Ankara: Two avalanches in eastern Turkey have killed 38 people, most of them buried by the second fall while working to rescue victims of the first.

Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Authority said 33 people were killed when the second avalanche hit while they were searching for two more victims of the first snowslip, which killed five people, after rescuing eight others.

Speaking to reporters in Van on Wednesday local time, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 75 people had been injured, adding that around 700 additional emergency rescue personnel were dispatched to the area.

Rescuers dig in the snow around at least three overturned vehicles following the second avalanche. Credit:AP

Some 300 emergency service workers were called to a highway near the mountain- surrounded town of Bahcesaray in Van province, which borders Iran, after an avalanche struck late on Tuesday. Around noon on Wednesday, the team was struck by the second avalanche.