STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: A 15-year-old student was killed while two of his class mates were injured in an avalanche in Macchil sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara District, police said on Saturday.
Mehrajuddin Khan, a resident of village Katwara, died on-the-spot in an avalanche which hit near a Madrasa at Chontiwari Payeen around 12:30 PM, a police officer said.
He said two other boys – Javid Ahmad Khan and Javid Ahmad Mir – were rescued and shifted to a local hospital where their condition was stated to be “stable”. Macchil along with other high altitude areas of the Valley experienced heavy snowfall for the past two days, prompting authorities to issue an avalanche warning on Friday.
About two to four feet of snow was reported from the high altitude areas especially near the Line of Control (LoC) including Machil.
Authorities on Friday issued an avalanche warning for four districts of Kashmir including Kupwara and advised people not to venture out in avalanche prone areas including Chokibal-Tangdhar Keran, Gurez, Nawgam-Kalyan, Machil and Drass sector in Kargil.
Giving details of the rescue operation, an army official said a detachment near the scene quickly sprung into action after observing that the boys were caught in the avalanche.
“Undeterred by the raging blizzard, 15-20 feet of standing snow and further avalanche warnings, the Army’s Avalanche Rescue Team was immediately launched for the rescue equipped with rescue equipment including avalanche victim detector with the help of which contact with the boys was established quickly,” he said.
He said the team found the boys, buried under 10 feet of snow, in a state of shock and physical exhaustion and administered critical first aid at the site itself. “The rescue mission was able to successfully evacuate two boys. However, the third unfortunately succumbed to his grievous injuries,” he added.
Meanwhile, the authorities issued a fresh avalanche warning for four districts of Kashmir Division, including Ladakh, as more snow and rain are forecast in these areas.
“According to Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) Asghar Samoon, medium danger avalanche warning exists for snowbound areas in four districts of Kashmir Division including Ladakh region,” an official spokesman said.
He said the areas for which avalanche warning has been issued include Chowkibal-Tangdhar, Taya, Ragini, Puttakhan, Zunegund, Malai, Pharkiyan, Keran Sector, Razdhan Pass in Bandipora, Gulmarg, Neeru, Burab, Chakwali, Naugaon, Kaiyan, Radha TMG, Padam, Zebra, Patlala, Z-Gali, Macchil, Dhudi, Tsuntwarl, Drass Sector and Kargil Sector in Kashmir Division.
“People are advised not to venture in steep avalanche prone slopes during next 24 hours from 30th to 31st January,” he said.
People are also advised to keep cleaning the snow from roof top of their houses to avoid any casualty due to roof collapse.
