Boy, two women killed in Banihal avalanche

It took almost three hours to dig them out of the snow. While the 10-year-old boy was dead, the women died a little later.

Two women and a boy were killed as an avalanche hit the mountainous belt of Mahoo area in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir this morning, police said.

“Hajra (23) and Gulsan (35), and 10—year—old Parvez, all residents of Bajnari hamlet in Ramban district, got buried under a massive avalanche near Mahoo area in the morning,” a police official said.

The locals rushed to the spot and tried to dig them out from the snow, he said adding, “It took almost three hours to dig them out. Parvez had already died whereas the two women who were still breathing died a couple of hours later.”

Meanwhile, local people said the two women could have been saved if proper medical care were available.

“We asked the administration to air—lift the two women to the district hospital, but nothing was arranged for them and they too died almost two to three hours after being taken out of the snow,” a resident of the area said.