Bodies of porter, civilain recovered after 6 months in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jul 6 (UNI) The bodies of a porter and a civilian, buried under huge snow avalanches in north Kashmir in January this year, were recovered after melting of snow, official sources said today.

They said Balwant Singh, a resident of Ramban, Jammu, was buried alive under a huge snow avalanche at Kalapahad near the Line of Control (LoC) on January 1. Singh was working with the Army as a porter and had gone there with the essentials when the tragedy struck.

On the same day, Abdul Rashid Bhat, a resident of Uri, was also trapped under a snow avalanche at Maya Bijhama, Uri when the entire north Kashmir hit by a record snowfall in 20 years.

Despite massive efforts, the bodies could not be recovered because of 15 to 20 feet of snowfall.

Both bodies were found as the snow melted they said.

More than two dozen people, mostly porters and soldiers, were killed in snowfall avalanches in north Kashmir during the last winter.

UNI BAS GT HT1527