Kashmiri laborers walk through dense fog on a snow covered mountain near Gulmarg, northwest of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Jan10, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
SRINAGAR – Two foreign skiers were killed and nearly 20 others rescued in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday after an avalanche swept through the popular ski resort of Gulmarg, police said.
The skiers are all foreign nationals but the police has yet to make their nationalities public.
"A massive rescue operation has been launched," Kashmir's police chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters. "Two bodies have been recovered so far."
Another 19 foreign nationals have been rescued by authorities, local police said on Twitter, adding that the bodies of the two deceased skiers have been shifted to a hospital
Another 19 foreign nationals have been rescued by authorities, local police said on Twitter, adding that the bodies of the two deceased skiers have been shifted to a hospital.
The skiers were hit by the avalanche in the Affarwat area of Gulmarg, Kumar said, days after heavy snowfall in the hills of Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, though each country only controls parts of it.
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A video of the avalanche shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a wall of snow roaring down a mountainside, sending skiers and other onlookers scurrying for safety.