At least 19 people have died and at least 32 others were injured in Afghanistan Saturday following a fuel tanker explosion.

Said Himatullah Shamim, a spokesman for the Parwan province, said a fuel tanker caught fire in the Salang Tunnel — a route that connects the country's north and south — around 8.30 p.m. local time on Saturday night, per multiple outlets.

"The highway is still closed," Shamim said in a translated video shared by The Guardian. "The authorities are at the site and trying to open the highway to traffic as soon as possible."

Shamim added that women and children are among those dead, and casualties could potentially rise due to survivors being trapped under rubble. The cause of the fire is not immediately clear.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Ministry of Public Works spokesperson Molvi Hamidullah Misbah said Sunday that the fire has since been put out and confirmed that teams are working to clear out the tunnel.

Video from The Guardian shows smoke rising at the scene of the fire, which is located about 80 miles north of Kabul. Other clips feature people sitting in the backs of trucks as they travel through dark sections of the tunnel.

The tunnel is located between the provinces of Parwan and Baghlan and is 1.66 miles long. It was completed in 1964 to assist the Soviet Invasion and was also the location of another deadly road accident in 1982, as well as several avalanches over a decade ago.

Avalanches killed dozens of people at the scene in February 2010 after they had been trapped and were freezing, or were suffocated by car fumes, Reuters reported. The avalanches were caused by days of heavy snow, and roughly 600 soldiers were sent to the site to rescue and evacuate a reported 1,500 people trapped.

Earlier this year, Afghanistan — which the Taliban has regained control of in 2021 — was hit with another tragedy when at least 182 people were reported to have died after a month of heavy flooding. Over 250 people had been injured, and more than 3,000 houses had been destroyed or were damaged by the seasonal rains as of August, a spokesperson said, per the Associated Press.

Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.

"We and our humanitarian partners have deployed assessment teams to identity needs in the affected areas. The teams are providing life-saving assistance to people including food, water and sanitation, tents, health care service, psychosocial support and other essential supplies," the United Nations wrote at the time.

https://people.com/human-interest/fuel-tanker-tunnel-fire-kills-at-least-19-injures-32-in-afghanistan/