With the recovery of two more bodies on Saturday, the overall death toll rose to eleven in separate avalanches near Sadhna Top in Tangdar sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.Deputy Commissioner Khalid Jehangir told news agency GNS two more bodies were recovered in the afternoon.
“Earlier, nine bodies were recovered. While one of them, that of beacon officer MP Singh, was found late Friday evening, remaining bodies were recovered on Saturday”, He said, adding that three persons were already rescued and have been hospitalised.Deputy Commissioner said that soon after the unfortunate incident, the whole men and machinery was put into motion to rescue the missing persons.He said police, army, SDRF and local volunteers were taking part in the rescue operation.The deputy Commissioner appreciated the role of local volunteers and insisted that without their help, the rescue would not have been so immediate.“Locals know the terrain of the area and worked hard with the joint rescue team. Without the local volunteers, it was quite impossible to recover the bodies in the record time keeping in view the tough terrain and bad weather,” he said.Meanwhile the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief and sorrow over the burying alive of ten persons in the snow avalanche at the Sadhna Top in Kupwara district.Among dead include a couple aswell as Mother-daughter duo.The deceased have been identified as Fareed Hussain Shah, his wife Shazia Begium of Chamkote, Shafqat Begium (government teacher), her daughter Amina Maqbool of Saydaan Gundi, Shakeela Begium w/o Abdul Rahim Parray r/o Suleman Tangdar, Fazil HussainShah son of Sarwar Hussain Shah of Chamkote, Muhammad Altaf Chak son of Samandar Chak of Nowpora Tangdar, Abdul Rasheed Joo (Headmaster Govt Boys High School Chamkote), Ghulam Hassan Shah of Camkote, Mir Altaf Shah, residents of Chamkote, Aamir Maqbool son of Maqbool Hussain Shah of Saydaan Gund, Nahida Bano daughter of Bashir Ahmad Khawaja of Gund.The Chief Minister conveyed her sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for solace to the departed souls.Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has directed the Kupwara district administration to ensure all possible medical assistance to the injured in the accident.Minister for Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction and Floriculture, Javaid Mustafa Mir has announced compensation under SDRF of Rs 4 lakh each to the next kin of the family of persons who were killed in the snow avalanche.The Minister also announced a compensation of Rs 12600 each to the injured persons. 10 civilian persons were killed and two were injured after a snow avalanche hit two vehicles near Sadna top in Kupwara district.The Minister expressed deepest condolences with the bereaved families and assured every possible support to them by the state government. The Minister also directed to provide better medical facilities to all the injured persons. (GNS)