(CNN) At least 77 people have been killed and 94 injured in northeast Pakistan after a series of avalanches destroyed and buried houses.

The avalanches were triggered by heavy snowfall in the Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to local authorities.

Dozens of houses had been wrecked and buried by the snow, with most of those killed and injured in their homes when the avalanches hit, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, state minister for disaster management and rehabilitation, on Tuesday.

Injured avalanche victims arrive in in Muzaffarabad in an army helicopter following heavy snowfall in the Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on January 14, 2020.

The death toll may continue to rise, as there are fears that many people may still be trapped.

In the aftermath, desperate villagers conducted a search and rescue attempt to find those buried in the avalanche, carrying shovels and wading into the deep snow.

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