Ganderbal (Jammu and Kashmir): Two labourers were killed after an avalanche hit Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Thursday, officials said. 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 dead 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 medico legal formalities, 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.
A video of snow avalanche hitting in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir reported on Thursday. Meanwhile Border Road organisation (BRO) team has reached to the spot.
Weather department had forecasted that Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will experience light to moderate rainfall or snowfall between January 11-13.
In November 2022 three Army jawans were killed after an avalanche in Machil sector of jammu and Kashmir. Their bodies were recovered after a search operation.
Meanwhile Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have received fresh snowfall since Wednesday. This has plummeted the temperature of the states and its surrounding states too.
Snow clad tree, road images have emerged from Himachal Pradesh's Narkanda as the area received heavy snowfall overnight and on Thursday morning. Even the Gangotri Dham of Uttarakhand was shrouded in white after heavy snowfall on Wednesday late night.
Trees and hills were covered in snow and the minimum temperature was recorded at a bone-chilling 1 degree Celsius. According to a Met forecast, Narkanda is likely to receive light rainfall on January 13 and the mercury might drop to as low as -3 degrees Celsius. North India is headed for another severe cold spell from January 14-19, a Met expert predicted on Thursday.
Even as the popular pilgrimage site, covered in snow, made for a pretty picture, the fresh burst of snow brought with it a biting chill sweeping the lower reaches of the Dham.The Met department said the temperature is likely to drop to as low as -9 degrees Celsius in a fresh spell of severe cold that is likely to grip the northern plains in the weekend and over the next week.
