According to media reports, the avalanche hit the ski slopes in Gulmarg.
One foreigner has died and seven have been rescued in a massive avalanche reported from Jammu-Kashmir’s Gulmarg on Thursday.
According to media reports, the avalanche occurred on the Kongdoori slopes, trapping multiple skiers. It was reported that the foreigners had ventured onto the ski slopes without the company of local residents.
The rescue teams rushed to the spot a rescue operation was launched to track other missing people. The rescue and search operations are currently being carried out by the Army and a patrolling team from the Jammu and Kashmir administration. The avalanche hit the town a day after the JK government’s 4th edition of the ‘Khelo India Winter Games’ event began in Gulmarg on Wednesday, February 21.
Images captured after the avalanche depict stranded tourists wading through knee-deep snow while a civilian helicopter hovers above the area. A snowmobile, commonly utilized by adventurers in Gulmarg for thrill-seeking activities, lies trapped beneath the avalanche’s snowy blanket, immobilized on the slope.
For the past three days, Kashmir has experienced moderate to heavy snowfall, heightening the risk of avalanches in the hilly and mountainous regions of the valley.
Another avalanche hit a precarious section of Sonamarg along the Srinagar-Leh road, obstructing the flow of water in the Sindh stream on Wednesday.
Authorities confirmed that the avalanche occurred close to the workshop for the Zojila tunnel construction in Sonamarg. Fortunately, no damage was reported as a result of the incident.
In response to heavy snowfall during the initial week of February, officials issued an avalanche warning for the elevated areas of the Kashmir valley.
