Most of the dead and injured were tourists, some of whom came from Nepal, Kolkata, Delhi or West Bengal state in India, according to A. a report By Sikkim Government Official Tushar Nikhar. Of the seven dead, at least five were in their 20s or 30s. The youngest dead was 6-year-old Rebiya Singh from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
The government report said that personnel from the army, the disaster response force and the Border Roads Organization were dispatched to carry out the rescue operation. It added that at least five cars and 20 tourists were trapped in the falling snow.
video From the rescue operation, it showed military personnel digging in the snow with shovels along a steep mountainside, along with heavy snowplowing machines. Some carried victims pulled from the snow as the crowd watched.
The Sikkim government report stated that the search and rescue operation was called off at 6pm due to “bad weather”. It will resume at 8 a.m. Wednesday “to account for the missing tourists, if any”.
“Disturbed by the avalanche in Sikkim. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office chirpadding that “every possible assistance is being provided to those affected.”
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