775 passengers stranded at Zojila in J&K pass airlifted

Around 775 passengers were today airlifted by the air force after being stranded at the 11,578 feet-high Zojila pass here for the past one week due to the closure of Srinagar-Leh highway following heavy snowfall, officials said.

Around 775 passengers were today airlifted by the air force after being stranded at the 11,578 feet-high Zojila pass here for the past one week due to the closure of Srinagar-Leh highway following heavy snowfall, officials said.

HT Image

While 490 passengers were airlifted from Leh to Srinagar, as many as 285 were ferried from Srinagar to Leh in two IL-76
air force planes.

The passengers were all residents of Kargil.

The highway is usually closed in October for winters but due to dry spell it was kept open for traffic this year.

The state administration had approached Union Ministry of Defence for making arrangements to airlift the stranded passengers.