Srinagar(J&K): Two foreign skiers were killed while 21 others were rescued after a massive avalanche hit the higher reaches of Afarvat at ski resort Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday, police said.
A police spokesman said that a group of 23 skiers and two local guides left for Afarvat for skiing on Wednesday morning. As per the police spokesman, at about 12.30 pm, a massive avalanche hit Hapatkhud Kangdori point of Afarvat where these skiing teams got trapped. On receiving the information Baramulla police mobilized joint rescue teams of JKP and the tourism department and they reached the site of the avalanche, the police spokesman said.
The Hapatkhud Kangdori area where the accident took place had been declared off-limits due to the possibility of an avalanche following heavy snowfall two days ago, the sources said. In the joint rescue operation, the Jammu Kashmir Police and the tourism department saved 21 out of the trapped 23 people. The rescued persons include 19 foreign nationals and 2 local guides. However, two of the foreign nationals lost their lives in the accident.
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At 12.30 pm, a gigantic wall of snow rolled down, trapping the group of mostly Polish and Russian tourists and two local guides. "Three teams of 21 foreign nationals and two local guides went to Affarwat for skiing this morning. A snow avalanche struck Hapatkhud Kangdori around 12.30 pm," Baramulla Senior Superintendent of Police Amod Nagpure was quoted as saying by PTI.
Asked if there was an avalanche warning for the area where the accident took place, Nagpure said an investigation has been ordered. Two skiers died while the other 21 who were on the slopes when the avalanche struck were rescued, he said. Those who died were identified as Krzysltof (43) and Adam Grzech (45).
Their bodies have been recovered and moved to hospital for medico-legal procedures while the rescued tourists and locals are being given medical attention, he said. Several people saw the tragedy unfold. "We saw the dance of death before our eyes. A 20 feet wall of ice fell on the skiers and they got buried under it. It's all about nature's fury," said All India Congress Committee member Deepak Chinchore from Karnataka who happened to be at the spot.
Officials said the cable car which ferries tourists up the 14,000 ft Afarwat mountain was used for the rescue operations. Videos of the avalanche, showing people running for their lives, circulated widely on social media. The Russians rescued were identified as Ekaterina, Maxim, Vladimir, Vasiliy, Engine, Leo, Nikita Mastryukov and Anna Chornyak, police said.
The Polish nationals were Rafat Kaqmaren, Narcin Wieklux, Eukasz Potaczewck, Tukasz Pasek, Katarzyna Filip, Marcin Raczyk, Barteomie Szkop, Bartosz Domagata, Adrian Anirowsu and Macie Kowalczyk. Besides, three guides, Bartos from Poland and two locals, Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, were also rescued. Snow avalanches are frequent in higher reaches of Kashmir during January and February, especially after fresh snowfall. Kashmir witnessed heavy snowfall on January 29 and 30. The last big avalanche in Gulmarg was on February 8, 2010 when 17 soldiers in an army camp were killed.
