Srinagar: A massive rescue operation to locate missing Amarnath yatris as well as evacuate injured and those stuck after a cloudburst near the mountain cave continued unhindered for second day on Saturday.
Teams from police, Army, Air Force, CAPFs including ITBP and CRPF, NDRF and SDRF continued to clear the debris and carry out other rescue related operations, official source said.
Over 15000 pilgrims stuck at several places en route following the natural calamity have been rescued but success eluded the rescuers to find any of the missing persons whose number so far unknown and may be more than 40-50 as was roughly estimated earlier.
A senior police officer GNS that authorities have decided to wait for now to declare exact number of missing. “There is possibility that phones might have got switched off preventing the missing pilgrims to make contact with the authorities or their loved ones,” he said, adding, “Also details will be cross checked once all those stuck at various places are safely evacuated.”
To a question whether the number could be more than 40 as was roughly estimated earlier, the officer said, “unless details are cross checked, nothing can be said with surety.”
NDRF is also learnt to have decided to cut through a very thick layer of snow underneath a culvert to find if there is any body buried there. A senior NDRF official told GNS that there could be three to four bodies inside the snow and debris mass accumulated there. So far 15 bodies have been recovered. Additional Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Vijay Kumar, who holds charge of the Kashmir range, told GNS that so far only 15 bodies have been recovered. Sources said that all of them have been identified.
Meanwhile Indian Air Force pressed four ‘Mi 17 V5’ and as many Cheetal helicopters who carried
65 sorties to ferry 109 injured to various hospitals and seven bodies for their deportation to native places.
The ITBP has expanded its route opening and protection parties from the lower part of the holy cave up to Panjtarni, a spokesperson of the force said.
Additional Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Vijay Kumar, who holds charge of the Kashmir range, reached the holy cave shrine on Saturday morning to supervise the rescue operations being conducted by security forces and the National Disaster Response Force.
He said the rescuers were clearing the debris to look for survivors as the administration was cross-checking the data of pilgrims to get the exact number of casualties.
Indian Army said that it was carrying relentless rescue ops for injured AmarnathYatris in the cloud burst. The rescue team immediately rushed to the site on getting information about casualties. An Infantry Battalion led by Colonel along with Quick Reaction Teams, an additional company worth of personnels from Sector RR and a team from Special Forces reached Holy Cave along with specialized rescue equipments to undertake the Rescue Operation. Through the night, Commander Sect RR & CO Infantry Battalion oversaw and coordinated rescue ops from the Holy Cave and Nilgrar. Medical resources at Holy cave and at Nilgrar were activated and additional resources deployed. Nine Surveillance Detachments with HHTI, NVDs and other ni sights were also deployed for search ops, army sad. Hand Held Thermal Imagers, Night Vision Devices and other night sights were used for search. Two ALH helicopters were moved for Casualty Evacuation at Holy Cave, however owing to bad weather situation night landing at Cave was unsuccessful. Two Through Wall Radars and two Search And Rescue dog squads were also moved to Holy Cave for rescue ops.
The search, rescue and medical effort continued at day break. At 06.45 AM the first ALH landed at site to commence evacuation of the injured. A total of 15 fatal and 63 injured Yatris were rescued by army till noon. Both Army and Civilian helicopters are carrying out relentless sorties to evacuate the injured and the dead. Injured Yatris medical treatment is ongoing. Simultaneously search was also commenced at daybreak at Amarnath Nar at Sangam for any possible casualties. Lt Gen ADS Aujla, GOC Chinar Corps and Maj Gen Sanjiv Singh Slaria, GOC Kilo Force visited the Holy Cave early in the morning to review the rescue and medical efforts being undertaken by the Indian Army. The GOC Chinar Corps also interacted with the Yatris and locals and assured of all possible help from Indian Army.
Citizens are advised to contact on Army helpline number + 91 9149720998 for assistance/enquiry. Callers are also advised to have details of Yatris such as Name, Yatra registration / RFID number, Contact number, Aadhar number and the last known location and time.
“The Indian Army is committed to assist the Yatris in all possible ways and under all circumstances. The rescue and medical efforts will continue through the day and details will be updated for general information of the public.” (GNS)
