Leh authorities on Saturday accused Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and police of negligence as rescuers recovered the bodies of two more labourers, engaged by the company, who were hit by an avalanche on the Khardung La on Friday morning.
Ten labourers, who Leh authorities said were digging snow for a helicopter landing trial by HAL, were buried by the avalanche. Five bodies were recovered on Friday, which means the death toll is now seven and three are missing.
“They (rescuers) are digging the snow very deep, sometimes going 20 metres down. All I can say, with regret, is that even a miracle might not save the remaining three,” Tsering Namgyal, chief executive officer of the Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council, told The Telegraph.
He said the council had lodged an FIR and ordered an inquiry, and might ask the state government to form a special investigation team.
“(There was) definitely negligence on (behalf of) Hindustan Aeronautics and the police post located on the way to Khardung La,” he said.
Namgyal said that HAL should have known better than to send the labourers to an avalanche-prone part of the pass.
“I don’t know why they (the police) allowed vehicle movement so early in the morning, at 6.30am,” he said, adding that vehicles are not allowed on the pass so early because of the high risk of skidding.
Namgyal had on Friday said that HAL officials needed snow for the trial landing of a new helicopter and had sent two tippers with 10 labourers to the spot to collect snow.
Dozens of men from the local administration and the army’s elite Avalanche Panthers Teams were on Saturday scouring the perilous Khardung La, whose highest point is at an altitude of 18,000 feet.
It has one of the world’s highest motorable roads, which connects Leh with the Siachen glacier.
On Saturday, the authorities issued a fresh avalanche warning for nine districts: seven in the Kashmir Valley and the two Ladakh districts of Leh and Kargil.
The divisional commissioner of Kashmir, Baseer Khan, said the deputy commissioners concerned had been directed to advise people living in avalanche-prone areas not to venture out.
The Valley and some parts of Ladakh received fresh snowfall this week. More snow is expected in the coming days.
