5 dead, 5 feared trapped as avalanche hits Khardung La in Ladakh

Arteev Sharma 
Tribune News Service
Jammu, January 18  

Five persons were killed and five others were missing after their truck came under an avalanche in the Khardung La area of the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, officials said.

The avalanche hit the truck carrying 10 persons at the Khardung La pass in the Ladakh region at 7 am, an official of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) said.

The BRO pressed into service its men and machinery to rescue the passengers of the truck, who were believed to be trapped under the debris, he added.

The police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel had also reached the spot, the BRO official said.

"So far, the bodies of five persons have been recovered from the avalanche site, while a search is on for the other missing persons," he added.

A bulldozer driver posted at the Khardung La Pass said two tippers and a Scorpio vehicle carrying about 12 persons left towards K-top area early morning to load snow to Leh.

“One tipper was already loaded with snow. However, the mishap occurred when they were loading another vehicle. Suddenly, an avalanche hit them and 10 people in a tipper were buried under the snow," he said.

A senior police official said, “At least 10-12 people were trapped under the snow and a body of a local resident from Leh has been recovered from the area. Fresh snowfall took place in the area on Thursday and they had gone to collect snow in a vehicle.”

Rescue teams of police, Border Roads Organisation and Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Force have reached the spot.

A high alert for avalanche was sounded on Thursday by the administration following adverse weather advisory by the Met department.