2 die in Kashmir after vehicle gets stuck in the snow
Two people were killed after the vehicle they were travelling was stranded in the snow on Sinthan Pass in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district
Two people were killed after the vehicle they were travelling was stranded in the snow on Sinthan Pass in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Sunday.
The victims, Imtiyaz Ahmad and Dawood Majeed, were a driver and conductor of a vegetable vehicle. Two others were rescued from the area and are being treated for hypothermia and shock, officials said.
Anantnag deputy commissioner Piyush Singla said a rescue operation was launched by the administration, police, army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) during the night. “Two vehicles and four people were stuck on the pass. We tried to rescue them during the day, but were unable to establish contact. Had we halted the operation for the night, none of the four would have survived.
“There was heavy snowfall and we pushed men and machinery, including excavators and a JCB, to clear the road. We also took the help of the army. The teams were finally able to reach them around 5am,” he said.
On Saturday, three persons, who were putting up in tents at Awantipora, died after a soil embankment collapsed due to heavy rainfall in Pulwama district. The three belonged to nomad community from Jammu’s Rajouri district.
Weather improves after record rainfall
A day after the region received record rainfall and the season’s first snow, the weather cleared on Sunday. While traffic was not allowed to ply on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, stranded vehicles were allowed to move once the blockades were cleared.
“The road will open for traffic on Monday, if weather stays pleasant,” an official of the traffic control room said. The weather office said the spell brought record rainfall in many parts of the region.
The Srinagar observatory of the meteorological department recorded a cumulative rainfall of 66mm on Friday and Saturday. “The previous extreme rainfall record for the month of October in Srinagar was 65.4mm in 1966,” said deputy director MeT Mukhtar Ahmad.
The mountainous resort of Pahalgam received 111mm rainfall against 6. 2mm record in October, 1982.In Jammu, Katra recorded 124.5mm rain breaking the record of 92.2mm rain in October, 2000.
J&K director meteorological department Sonam Lotus said that the weather outlook for the next 10 days is mainly dry. “Light rain or snow may take place at isolated places on November 1 and 2,” he said.
