NEW DELHI: An Army Major and four members of a family were among six killed today in avalanches and other snow-related incidents in parts of Kashmir even as the Valley remained cut-off from the rest of the country as the traffic movement on Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed due to snowfall.
Cold conditions abated a bit in northern states with the lowest minimum temperature recorded in the plains was 7.2 degrees Celsius at Sabaur in Bihar while fog affected rail services as 32 north-bound trains were running late while 17 were rescheduled.
An avalanche hit an army camp at Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, resulting in the death of Major Amit Sagar of High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS).
An army official said one soldier had died after getting trapped under the avalanche.
In another incident, four members of a family died as their residential house was buried under snow in Gurez sector near Line of Control in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
The house of Habibullah Lone collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in death of 55-year-old Lone, his wife Azizi (50), 22-year-old son Irfan and daughter Gulshan (19).\
In a separate incident, Abdul Gani Ganaie was killed and another got injured when a house collapsed under the weight of snow at Kralpora in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
It was sunny and cloudy in patches in the national capital with the minimum temperature settling at 12.5 degrees Celsius.
The maximum temperature was recorded at 25.1 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.
The visibility in New Delhi was recorded at 800 mt at 5.30 AM. Three hours later, it dropped to 500 mt. The visibility improved significantly to 1,000 mt at 11.30 AM. (AGENCIES)
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