The Hindu : Front Page : Six ITBP jawans killed, eight missing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

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Six ITBP jawans killed, eight missing

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, FEB. 7. Six jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been killed and eight missing in an avalanche as heavy rain and snow lashed the Kashmir Valley for the last two days. With the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway closed and all flights cancelled, the Valley today remained cut off from the rest of the country.

Official sources said the avalanche swept away a military barrack in the Jawahar Tunnel, about 120 km from here, last night. While all the ITBP men posted in the hut were feared dead, police said that six bodies had been recovered till late in the evening. Seven jawans and a constable of the Indian Reserve Police are missing. Fifteen soldiers sustained injuries.

Heavy snow is hampering the search for the missing personnel. The injured soldiers have been admitted to a military hospital. Reports said about seven feet of snow had accumulated in the 2.5-sq.km tunnel, the only surface link between Kashmir and the rest of the country.

Over 600 vehicles, including 200 light motor vehicles, are stranded between Patnitop and the Banihal stretch. In the absence of proper accommodation, the commuters are facing difficulties.

"There is absolutely no accommodation and we are on the roadside," said

Farukh Naqashbandi, a Srinagar-based architect, on phone from Banihal. However, the locals have come forward and taken many of the stranded people, especially women and children, to their homes.

Mohammad Taskeen, a Banihal-based journalist, told The Hindu that there was chaos and confusion in the area but "people have volunteered to give shelter to stranded commuters."

The highway has been closed since Saturday evening and hundreds of trucks, buses and cars are lined up along the road.

Flights cancelled

All Srinagar-bound flights from Delhi were cancelled today. The airport here is under a thick blanket of snow though efforts are on to make the runway functional.

The Haj flights have also been diverted to other cities, officials said. Inter-district bus service also remained affected in many areas.

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