Srinagar: The six trekkers who had been stranded after a fatal rock avalanche killed two have safely reached Pahalgam on Saturday, reports stated. However, the two dead bodies were unable to be retrieved.
According to the officials, a chopper carrying a rescue operation had to turn back due to inclement weather conditions, while a local mountaineer namely Gulu has gone with SDRF teams and has reached the base camp in order to get the dead bodies of Naveed Jeelani and Adil Shah.
Earlier, two trekkers from Jammu and Kashmir, identified as Naveed Jeelani and Adil Shah, died and one was injured after a rock avalanche descended following inclement weather at the Kolahoi Glacier, 26 kilometers upward from Pahalgam. Officials revealed that rescue teams along with air force and the Indian Army were sent to the spot.
Details emerged that a group of 9 trekkers, of which 2 were local ponywalas, were returning from the Glacier when three of them were hit by an avalanche after descending into the crevasse. Naveed was a KAS officer and Adil worked with Alpine group – a tour and travel group in Jammu and Kashmir.
A friend of the victims, Omar Bazaz who accompanied the family of the deceased to Aru in Pahalgam, told Free Press Kashmir that Naveed was hit first by the avalanche and died on the spot, whereas Adil was injured in the abdomen and succumbed to his injuries after half an hour. The third trekker, Haziq Beig, received a leg injury.
