An avalanche slammed into a mountain road in eastern Turkey on Wednesday, wiping out a huge team of rescue workers sent to find two people missing in an earlier avalanche.
Officials said 23 rescue workers were killed while others were still buried under the snow. The avalanche increased the overall death toll from the disaster to 28.
Gov. Mehmet Emin Bilmez said the rescuers' bodies were recovered from the mass of snow on the steep slope. They included eight military police officers, three government-paid village guards, three firefighters and nine volunteers.