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70 tourists stranded in Kangra’s Kareri Lake due to heavy snow rescued
The tourists had gone on a trek to the lake despite being warned of snowfall forecast.
More than 70 tourists who were stranded at Kareri Lake, a famous tourist destination tucked away in Dhauladhar mountains near Dharamshala, due to heavy snowfall, were rescued on Monday afternoon.
Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati said that the District Disaster Management Authority received information on Monday morning that around 73 people were stranded at Kareri Lake due to heavy snowfall.
The administration swung into action and a rescue team comprising 10 persons with a guide was sent to the location from Shahpur while another fully-equipped quick response team comprising 13 police personnel and eight home guards, trained in high altitude rescue operations, was dispatched from Dharamshala.
A team of locals also moved to the spot to help the administration in the rescue operation.
However, at around 3 pm the rescue teams informed that all stranded had been rescued. Kangra SP Vimukt Ranjan supervised the rescue operation.
The tourists belonged to Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh and Utter Pradesh. They had gone on a trek on Sunday when the weather was clear. However, it snowed heavily on Sunday night and there were 3-4 feet of snow at Kareri.
Meanwhile, Ravi Kumar, a local resident of Kareri village and leader of one of the rescue team said that the tourists had gone on the trek despite being warned of snow forecast.
Kareri Lake, located approximately 2,934 meters above sea level is a glacier-fed lake in the Dhauladhar range around 25 kilometers from Dharamshala, including a 15-kilometer trek through dense forest and steep hills.
