People taking out the body of a laborer buried in an avalanche in Sonamarg (FILE)
Photo: Samvad
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During the closure of the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, the Kargil Courier Service of the Air Force airlifted over 3000 passengers this winter. An officer associated with the service gave this information on Tuesday.
The Kargil courier service was started on 18 January. The official said that this season 3228 residents of Ladakh availed the services of AN-32 and IL-76 aircraft provided by the Air Force.
Of these, 39 passengers were airlifted from Jammu to Kargil in an AN-32 sortie on Tuesday. Where AN-32 aircraft operated between Kargil and Jammu and Srinagar, the official said.
IL-76 aircraft were arranged between Srinagar-Leh and Jammu-Leh for the stranded passengers. In addition, on the personal intervention of Brigadier (Retd) BD Mishra, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, several hundred stranded passengers were airlifted from Chandigarh to Leh in an IL-76 aircraft.
Accident occurred while clearing snow in Sinthan top area on Anantnag-Kishtwar road
A JCB operator was killed when he was hit by an avalanche while clearing snow from the Sinthan Top area on the road connecting Anantnag-Kishtwar district. At the same time, two others are said to be missing. However, there is no official confirmation of the missing personnel yet.
The deceased JCB operator has been identified as Javed Ahmed (35) s/o Abdul Aziz Jagu resident of Larnu. According to the information, on Tuesday, several JCBs were engaged to remove snow from the road in Sinthan Top area. During this, he got swept away due to the avalanche. Some people working as operators managed to get out.
After information, a large-scale relief and rescue operation was started under the supervision of Tehsildar and SHO Larnu who reached the spot. So far the body of one JCB operator has been recovered, while the search is on for the possible missing.
The administration official said that initial reports have revealed that two people engaged in snow removal work are missing. But it is not confirmed yet. The relief and rescue operation is still going on.
