An international aid group said Thursday it had reports that up to 150 children had died of cold-related illnesses in one part of a snowbound Afghan province, and hundreds more may have died.

Catholic Relief Services said a team of six doctors who had surveyed villages along a 60 kilometers stretch of highway in the remote central province of Ghor were told of 140-150 child deaths.

Most of the deaths appeared to have been caused by pneumonia and most were of children under the age of five, Paul Hicks, director of CRS for western Afghanistan said.

"These are still unconfirmed numbers, based on reports the teams are getting from talking to families and community leaders," he said.

Hicks said the doctors reported 100 percent rates of anaemia and very high rates of severe malnutrition among children - with the rate for under fives ranging from 10-20 percent.

Hicks said aid workers feared the death toll in remote regions of the province, which relief workers had been unable to reach because of heavy snow, could be far higher.

"Several hundred children may have died," he said.

Hicks expressed frustration that aid teams had been unable to reach remote parts of the province to assess emergency relief needs because of a lack of helicopters from either the US military or the United Nations.

"We have not been able to get air support, and for the past three weeks we have not been able to get people into these areas," he said.

"It is a matter of resources and priorities. The US military has not been able to provide resources and the UN has only one helicopter available, which cannot possibly meet the needs."

(China Daily February 25, 2005)