Khardung La avalanche: Toll rises to 7, 3 missing

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 1/20/2019 5:07:32 PM

SRINAGAR, Jan 19: Two more bodies were recovered today from the site where an avalanche struck two trucks in Ladakh, taking the death toll to seven, officials said.
"Two more bodies have been recovered at Khardungla avalanche site. In total, seven bodies have been recovered so far," a state disaster management department official said. He said search was in progress for the remaining three persons.
The official said arrangements have been made to airlift the bodies to Zanskar tehsil.
The avalanche on Friday morning hit the two trucks carrying 10 persons at Khardungla pass, the highest motorable roads in the world at 17,500 feet.
The trucks were buried under debris 20 feet deep, nearly 800 metres from Khardungla Top towards South Pullu. Five bodies were recovered yesterday.
Meanwhile, a defence spokesman in a statement said, "The Khardungla rescue operations re-commenced at first light today to search for the missing five civilians who were buried under an avalanche on January 18 near Khardungla Top."
He added that rescue teams from the fire and fury corps, mustered from the Base Camp and from Shyok Axis of the Siachen Brigade consisting of avalanche lanther teams along with avalanche rescue dogs and deep search radars were employed for the search.
"Inspite of the inclement weather conditions and snowfall in the area, troops of the fire and fury corps have braved the extreme harsh terrain and severe subzero temperatures and have been carrying out this daunting task tirelessly with unflinching dedication and devotion. A command and control center established at Khardungla Top under the aegis of the fire and fury corps has been continuously coordinating the rescue operations round the clock," the spokesman said.
He said GOC corps along with Commander Siachen Brigade carried out an aerial assessment of the incident site and issued further necessary directions for the smooth conduct of the rescue operations. The search and rescue teams were able to extricate the bodies of two more civilians today, thus bringing the total number of bodies recovered so far to seven, the spokesman said.

 

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