MANALI: A 24-year-old tourist from Jaipur, Rajasthan, who was trapped inside an avalanche for over two hours after a portion of it caved in at Koksar in Himachal's Lahaul valley, died while she was being moved to hospital on Sunday late evening.
Thousands of tourists are visiting Lahaul valley to see snow these days. Most tourists are heading to Koksar village, 9km from Atal tunnel, in the foothill of Rohtang pass. While snow from most areas has disappeared due to rising temperature, there is still deep snow at places where avalanches had occurred in the winter season. The tourist, Akansha, 24, was playing on the snow of one such old avalanche, when she met with the fatal accident.
“Not knowing the hidden danger, she was sliding on the steep snow for fun. Suddenly, some portion of the soft snow gave in and she fell into a steep nullah flowing underneath the thick snow. She disappeared. It took more than two hours for rescue teams to trace her. The doctor on spot found a weak pulse and referred her to a hospital in Manali. Unfortunately, she died on the way,” Lahaul-Spit deputy commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.
Akansha had slid deep inside the snow and was completely drenched with the icy cold water. While she had sustained some injuries, it was extremely cold which proved fatal for her. She remained inside the avalanche and water for more than two hours. She struggled for life for more than three hours but eventually could not be saved.
Police received information about the incident at about 5pm. A rescue operation was launched with help of ITBP jawans, police, fire services, district administration, and local residents. As her location below the snow was not known, the rescue teams dug into the hard snow at multiple locations to search for her. It was risky to conduct rescue operations in such conditions, so those using shovels to remove snow were tied with the ropes.
