A second avalanche has slammed into a mountain road in eastern Turkey, killing at least eight rescue workers and leaving 20 others buried under the snow, a local mayor says.

The emergency crew had been sent to the site to find two other people missing in a previous avalanche.

About 300 emergency service workers were called to a highway near the mountain-surrounded town of Bahcesehir, in Van province, which borders Iran, after an avalanche struck late on Tuesday.

The first avalanche killed five people.

https://twitter.com/SharkNewsWires/status/1225017349016838145

Bahcesaray Mayor Meki Arvas gave the death toll for the rescue workers.

Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said 25 emergency service members were rescued from under the snow and taken to hospital for treatment on Wednesday.

The first avalanche buried a snow-clearing vehicle and a minibus, killing five people and leaving two others missing.

The vehicle’s operator and seven passengers escaped alive.

The second avalanche struck on Wednesday as 300 emergency workers were searching for the two missing victims, private NTV television reported, adding that fog and heavy snow were hampering the rescue efforts.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the operator, Bahattin Karagulle, was trapped beneath the snow for some 25 minutes before he managed to break a window and escape to seek help.

-AAP