MANALI: At least 194 persons, including 20 tourists, had a narrow escape after getting stranded at Rohtang Pass after heavy snowfall on Friday. Seventy-two persons were rescued from Rahni Nullah late night on Friday but remaining 122 persons had to spend the freezing night on Rohtang Pass and were rescued on Saturday afternoon. Dark clouds were hovering over Rohtang on Friday morning. Till noon the weather became furious and it started snowing heavily. More than 300 persons in over 50 vehicles were coming towards Manali from Keylong, the district headquarter of Lahaul-Spiti. Temperature plunged many degrees below freezing point and snowfall turned into blizzard. Few of the lucky persons safely crossed the pass but fast accumulation of snow stopped movement of nearly 40 vehicles. A tourist from Delhi, Rahul, who spent the night in freezing cold with his family, said, We had crossed over to Lahaul on Thursday. We were coming back on Friday but snowfall trapped us on Rohtang Pass and we were stranded. Most of the trapped persons were from Himachal, including 15 Buddhist lamas. Residents of Lahaul, who are well versed with local trekking trails, reached Marhi and then Manali on Thursday, but almost zero visibility forced others to stay near their vehicles. Avalanches near Rahni Nullah buried around 30 vehicles. We were lucky to have vacated our jeep on time, said Khem Singh, a survivor from Mandi. Rescue operation was launched on Friday noon with the help of local villagers from Palchan panchayat, administration, police, BRO jawans and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports. Around 72 persons who were trapped near Rahni Nullah were rescued till midnight on Friday. But the operation was stopped as blizzards hampered the operation. Rescue operation was re-launched on Saturday early morning at 5am and teams from Manali reached the stranded people on Rohtang Pass. All 122 persons were safely rescued till 2pm on Saturday. Gopal, another survivor from Gohar (Mandi), said, The night was horrible. At some moments I thought Im going to die as snow had almost covered our jeep. Morning brought hope with it and we finally reached Marhi safely.
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 03:31:52 +0000
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