Islamabad, (Anantnag) Feb 10: Bodies of three persons, feared dead after being struck by a snow avalanche in Chatergul area of this south Kashmir district earlier this week, continue to be missing with more rescue teams rushing to the spot.
Three persons Javed Ahmed Koka son of Abdul Gani Koka and two brothers Ghulam Qadir and Abdul Ahad, sons of Abdul Salam Wani all residents of Thimran village, had left home early in the morning on Tuesday to collect firewood from the nearby forests in Chatergul area, 40 kms from here.
The trio reportedly came under a snow avalanche and is feared dead. However, their bodies have not been located yet.
"The bodies of the three people have not been retrieved yet and the rescue operation is on" the Coordinator of Disaster Management Cell, Amir Ali told Greater Kashmir.
"More than 200 people including locals are on the rescue operation from past 3-days but the huge accumulation of snow in the area is hampering the operation" Amir said adding that the rescue teams were putting all their efforts to retrieve the bodies.  
“As the bodies of the trio could not be retrieved the rescue teams started cutting the snow avalanche which is stuck in a deep gorge. They have been able to locate a stick belonging to one of the persons and are excepting that the bodies would be spotted somewhere around,” said  Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), South Kashmir Range, ( DIG), Shafkat Ahmad Watali.
He said that the avalanche the trio has come under is a huge mass of more than one and a half km in length.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 IST