Lahaul and Spiti: Avalanche near Chika village leaves 2 dead

Mandi, February 5

Two labourers were killed, while one was trapped under snow after an avalanche on the Darcha-Shinkula road in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti on Sunday.

The snow avalanche triggered near Chika village under the Lahaul subdivision of the district, when the workforce and machinery of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was engaged in snow clearance operation on the Darcha-Shinkula road.

The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Lahaul and Spiti, Sumit Khimta, said two bodies of labourers had been retrieved from the area, while one victim was still untraced. A team of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Lahaul and Spiti, was rushed to the spot, along with an ambulance, to lead the rescue operation.

The DC said a BRO team, along with the DDMA team, was trying to locate the trapped victim. Due to darkness and extreme cold conditions, both the teams were facing difficulty in tracing the victim. The BRO officials were monitoring the rescue operation.