In a heart-wrenching incident, a woman was killed while five others were rescued when an avalanche hit a group of pilgrims in Uttarakhand’s Atalkoti on Sunday. Officials said a group of six pilgrims was stuck after a piece of glacier broke off at Atalkoti on the Hemkund Sahib Yatra route on Sunday evening.
While five of them were rescued, one woman had gone missing since the incident. Following this, a joint search and rescue operation was launched by the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Later the body of the woman was recovered from the same area. According to officials, the deceased has been identified as Kamaljeet Kaur.
SDRF Commandant Manikant said, “A total of 6 Sikh pilgrims were trapped in this avalanche. Five pilgrims were successfully rescued by ITBP and SDRF on Sunday. During the search this morning, the team found the body of a woman pilgrim, Kamaljit Kaur, buried in the snow.” ” Mishra said. According to the SDRF commandant, the SDRF has handed over the body of the woman to the local police.
Earlier on May 26, the Yatra of Shri Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand was stopped for two days due to warnings of snow and heavy rain on the route and after two days the Yatra was resumed on May 28. The portals of Hemkund Sahib were opened for devotees earlier this month on May 20.
Earlier in the month, officials had said that travel for children and elderly people above 60 years of age has been banned in view of heavy snowfall in Hemkund Sahib. Hemkund Sahib literally means “lake of ice” and is the highest gurudwara in the world with an elevation of 4,633 meters above sea level.
,With inputs from ANI)
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