The incident happened at around 6:30 pm when a fuel truck overturned and caught fire, said Hamidullah Misbah, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works.

Misbah stated that the fire was extinguished at around 8:00 am on Sunday while teams were sent to the area from Baghlan and Parwan provinces.

He said that the death toll could rise further.

The Salang pass is the primary mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan with Parwan Province, with onward connections to Kabul Province, southern Afghanistan, and to the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The pass crosses the Hindu Kush mountains but is now bypassed through the Salang Tunnel, which runs underneath it at a height of about 3,400 m. (ILKHA)