10 bodies recovered from snow, Kupwara avalanche toll at 11

Earlier in the day, five bodies were recovered from a spot in Kupwara where a vehicle carrying six people swept away by a huge avalanche of snow.

"Five bodies were recovered from the avalanche site", deputy commissioner Kupwara Khalid Jehangir told PTI.

He informed the media that the search operation for other seven people is underway.

According to reports that total number of people killed in the avalanche has risen to ten.

An officer of the Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was among those killed after his vehicle was swept away in the avalanche at Sadna Top, a unsafe ascent point along the Kupwara-Tangdhar highway.

However, rescue teams of police and Army joined by locals have rescued a child and an elderly person and shifted them to hospital. He was immediately shifted to hospital for treatment. A Beacon officer's body was found on Friday evening, he said.

She conveyed her sympathies to the bereaved families.

Local sources in the area said that Sadhna Top is one of the far-flung areas of the Valley and people there have always been demanding a tunnel to make safe their travel in winter.

The spokesman said the chief minister directed the Kupwara district administration to ensure all possible medical assistance to the injured.

Minister for Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction and Floriculture, Javaid Mustafa Mir has announced compensation under SDRF of Rs 4 lakh each to the next kin of the family of persons who were killed in the snow avalanche.

Minister for Tourism, Tassaduq Hussain Mufti also expressed grief and prayed for peace to the departed souls.