4 bodies found at Khardung La
The bodies of four of the ten persons who were buried under tons of snow after an avalanche swept across 18,400 feet high Khardung La (pass) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region on Friday have been retrieved by the rescuers.
A defence spokesman said that victims were travelling in two civilian trucks when they came under a massive snow avalanche of approximately twenty feet deep, around 800 metres from the Khardung La top towards South Pullu.
“Out of the ten civilians reported to be buried under the avalanche, four bodies have been recovered. Also mangled pieces of one of the tippers was found on the steep slopes below the road,” said the spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.
The defence spokesman said that though the rescue operations were still in progress as reports last came in, it would take some more time before the rescuers could reach the other persons trapped under tons of snow “as the run out zone of the avalanche is approximately 1,100 metres down the steep hill.”
The official source said that apart from the J&K police and the Army, the Border Roads Organisation and Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Force are engaged in the rescue operation.
The defence spokesman said that the incident was reported to the Army detachment at Khadung La Top by two civilian drivers at about 7. 45 am.