J&K: Two labourers killed in avalanche near Zojila

Sandeep Kumar and Bala Krishna, both residents of Kishtwar district in Jammu province, were working with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering which is executing the Zojila Tunnel project.

They came under a massive pile of snow after the first avalanche hit close to Zojila, some 10 kilometres from Sonamarg, on Thursday morning. The massive snow avalanche was also captured on camera.

In a statement, the police said the avalanche triggered an alarm but “no loss of life and property” was initially reported.

“However, as the snow settled later on, management of Megha company reported that two labourers of their company are missing and buried under snow. The Sonamarg police, ART teams of army and SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) teams reached the spot and started a search and rescue operation,” the statement said.

Police also asked the management of the company to temporarily shift its workers to a safer location.

According to the statement, immediately after the avalanches hit, men and machinery were put to work to remove the debris and the road was thrown open.

Sonamarg would usually remain closed for tourists during winter. However, the government last year decided to keep the health resort open in an effort to expand winter tourism beyond the well-known ski resort of Gulmarg in North Kashmir.