Ladakh: Two girls died when an avalanche hit the Tangole village in the Kargil district of Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. More casualties are feared and a rescue operation is underway. "As soon as we received the information regarding Avalanche at Tangole village, Police, UTDRF, Mechanical Division Kargil reached the spot. Bodies of two girls were recovered after a massive rescue operation, " Deputy Commissioner Kargil Santosh Sukhdev told ETV Bharat in a telephone conversation. He further said, "The district administration will provide immediate relief to the families of two girls."
Meanwhile, CEO LAHDC Kargil Feroz Khan has expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the eternal peace of the deceased. "Prayers for the two young lives lost in today's avalanche at Tangole. Both bodies have been recovered. The efforts of Ladakh police personnel and volunteers of Basij-e -Baqiyatullah are highly commendable," he tweeted.
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Earlier, two labourers were killed after an avalanche hit Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district. The avalanche hit the Sarbal area close to Nilgrath where Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) is executing work on the Zojila Tunnel. Two bodies, identified as Sandeep Singh and Bal Krishna -- both residents of Kishtwar -- have been retrieved so far, officials said. The bodies have been shifted to Primary Health Centre in Sonamarg for medicmedico-legalalities, they added. "The body of a worker has been recovered from the avalanche site and shifted to the nearby hospital," the officials said. A rescue operation has been launched and police, State Disaster Response Force, Army, Beacon and MEIL teams are on site to clear the snow-laden area, they added.
In a separate incident, two villages in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district were cut off the road after an avalanche hit the Panga Valley of the Chamba district. No loss of life or property, however, was reported. "With weather cleared after heavy snowfall in the upper areas of the Chamba district, reports of avalanches have started hitting various places. Glaciers are melting in Bharmour and Pangi Valleys," an official said.
"We have received news of an avalanche in the Pangi Valley, but there has been no damage. The area has a network issue and as soon as more information is received from there, it will be informed," he added. According to authorities, no damage was reported. However, an inspection by higher authorities is being conducted in the region in order to understand the current situation.
