A Beacon officer was killed and seven persons were missing as two avalanches hit vehicles on the Kupwara-Tangdar road in north Kashmir’s Kupwara on Friday. The Beacon officer died after snow avalanche swept his vehicle off the road at the Sadhna Top. Another Beacon personnel remained untraced. The deceased has been identified as M.P. Singh. In another avalanche on the same route, a vehicle carrying eight passengers was pushed off the road.
The driver, Zahoor Ahmad Khan, and a boy, Nanna, survived the accident, said an official. Both have been shifted to a hospital. However, six passengers are still missing, said the district official.
“We are trying our best to rescue the missing even as fresh snowfall has started in the area and is hampering the operation,” the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, told reporters.
Officials said two rescue teams comprising the Army, police and State Disaster Response Force were on the job to locate the missing people.
Amir Ali, who works with the State disaster management cell, said,“They [missing people] came under an avalanche at Khoni Nalla, near Sadhna Top en route to Karnah. Seven persons are still missing.”
Minister for Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Javaid Mustafa Mir directed that proper medical aid be provided to the two injured persons.
The Minister said movement of traffic should be restricted on vulnerable roads in the event of adverse weather predictions.
