Major avalanche hits Sikkim's Nathula border area; 7 dead

Second slide strikes same place at 17:35 pm; rescue and search operations halted

- AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING: An avalanche at the 14th mile on the Jawaharlal Nehru Road connecting Gangtok with Nathula Pass on the Indo-China border in Sikkim, has left seven dead and several others injured.

“All tourists and tourist vehicles have been accounted for. The rescue operation has been called off,” stated an NDRF statement in the evening.

The incident has been condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee among others.

A BRO release stated that at around 12:15 noon, around 25 to 30 tourists got trapped in a sudden avalanche at Mile 14 on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. “Swift rescue operations were launched by BRO Project SWASTIK. Till 4 pm 23 tourists were rescued including 6 from deep valley and shifted to nearby hospitals. One lady was rescued after being buried in the snow for 1.5 hours. She was breathing and was sent to STNM Hospital in Gangtok,” stated the release. In addition, 350 stranded tourists and 80 vehicles were rescued after snow clearance from the road.