Srinagar: The government on Sunday said that a parallel rescue and search operations have been launched to trace the three missing persons who were swept away by a snow avalanche in Lashikote forest area of Lolab which connects Kupwara and Bandipora districts through a pedestrian mountain pass.
An official statement here said Minister for Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Javaid Mustafa Mir asked Deputy Commissioner Kupwara to personally visit the village to take stock of search and rescue operation launched for tracing the missing persons, who have been trapped in a snow avalanche. He also instructed that the rescue operation should continue till the missing persons are located. He also asked Deputy Commissioner Bandipora to launch parallel rescue team from Bandipora to locate the missing.
“Accordingly, a well-organized rescue operation was launched despite the fact that the terrain is inhospitable and conditions extremely challenging,” the official said. Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Khalid Jehangir, personally monitored the operation along with SDM, Tehsildar and BMO, the official said. “Joint rescue team of Army, Police, SDRF, Revenue and Health comprising more than 60 personnel, as well as numerous locals were launched today at Warnow, Lolab from 8:45 AM. Lashikote Forest has been made base camp for rescue operation and Army has also provided sniffer dogs to the rescue teams”.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora launched a parallel rescue mission with a team Army from 27 RR has also been launched from Bandipora.
