Two more bodies were recovered, while three people remained missing on the second day of rescue operation in Leh’s avalanche-hit Khardung La Pass, located at an altitude of 18,380 ft.
“After two days of rescue operations, seven bodies have been recovered. Three remain missing, for whom the rescue will resume at the first light on Sunday. The seven bodies are being airlifted to Zanskar on Sunday morning so that they can be handed over to their families,” deputy commissioner of Leh, Avny Lavasa, told The Hindu .
The rescue was called off on Friday evening due to inclement weather and was resumed on Saturday morning. High-tech gadgets, including human detectors, and sniffer dogs were used to trace the civilians buried under snow, said an official.
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Five locals killed in the avalanche were working as porters with the Army. Two vehicles carrying 10 civilians were swept away and buried under the avalanche of approximately 20 ft depth and 800 m length which hit the Khardung La Top-South Pullu stretch on the world’s highest motorable road on Friday morning.
The rescue is being jointly carried out by the State police, the Army and the State Disaster Response Force. It is likely to enter a difficult phase on Sunday as the meteorological department forecast more snow in Kashmir and Ladakh in the next three days and possibility of more avalanches in the upper reaches.
Fresh avalanche warnings
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Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan on Saturday issued avalanche warning for nine avalanche-prone districts of Kashmir division.
“The warning has been issued for the avalanche-prone areas of district Anantnag, Kulgam, Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil and Leh,” said Mr. Khan.
People living in areas were advised “not to venture out to avoid the loss of lives”.
“Deputy Commissioner are asked to take all the precautionary measures and to keep the SDRF, police and para-medical staff with ambulances in readiness to avert any untoward incident,” said Mr. Khan.