SRINAGAR – At least eleven passengers have been killed in India-administered Kashmir when the vehicles they were traveling in were hit by an avalanche.
Two vehicles were buried in the snow when the avalanche struck the Sadhna Top region in Kupwara district on Friday evening, an official said.
Teams of police, army and disaster response personnel recovered 11 bodies in rescue operations that concluded late Saturday, local administration official Khalid Jehangir said.
The victims included five women and a 2-year-old child. Two people rescued by the teams were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Rescue operations were extremely difficult due to inclement weather and chilly temperatures. Avalanches are common in Kashmir, separate portions of which are administered by India and Pakistan.
In 2012, an avalanche in the Pakistan-controlled part of the region’s Siachen Glacier killed 140 people including 129 soldiers.
Heavy snowfall in the region since Wednesday is believed to have triggered the avalanche.
