Rohtang tragedy: Nine bodies brought to base camp (Second Lead)

All the nine retrieved bodies that were buried in the snow near the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district were brought to the base camp Saturday evening, an official said. The rescue operations for the people frozen to death started early Saturday.

The administration has set up the base camp at Marhi, some 35 km from here.

Over 75 people, mostly labourers of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF), were caught in strong winds Friday afternoon near the Rohtang Pass when they were coming from the Lahaul valley in Lahaul and Spiti district. Nine died on the spot while the others survived. They had been stranded across the valley since Nov 9 due to heavy snowfall.

"Rescue workers of the (Manali-based) Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, the police and the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) recovered nine bodies at various points near the Rohtang Pass. All the bodies have been brought to the base camp this (Saturday) evening," Superintendent of Police (Kullu) K.K. Indoria told IANS.

"It seems that most of them died due to sudden change in climatic conditions. They were crossing the pass on foot and they were not properly geared to cross the pass. The post mortem examination would be conducted Sunday at Manali," he said.

Deputy Commissioner B.M. Nanta said most of the victims were labourers from Jharkhand.

"They might have slipped off icy tracks due to high velocity winds or died due to severe cold conditions," he said.

According to Nanta, the search operations would continue for the next three-four days to recover more bodies, if any.

He said 19 people, who reached Marhi from the Rohtang Pass on their own Friday, have been admitted to the civil hospital in Manali for treatment.

"Nineteen people were admitted to the civil hospital in Manali Saturday for treatment. They have been suffering from frost bite," he said.

The Rohtang Pass, the gateway to the Lahaul Valley, has been closed to traffic since Nov 9 due to heavy snowfall.

Located 52 km from here, the Rohtang Pass connects Manali with Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. It also plays an important role in the movement of the armed forces to the forward areas in Ladakh.

The weather at the Rohtang Pass is harsh. A sudden drop in the temperature, even in summer, can trigger winter-like conditions.

Last updated on Nov 21^st, 2009 at 20:50 pm IST--IANS