7 tourists die in Sikkim avalanche, 8 still critical

Seven bodies were brought out of the snow and 23 people were rescued alive, including six tourists from a deep valley.

An avalanche on Tuesday killed at least seven tourists in Sikkim’s Nathu La area, the army said, with officials saying rescue operations were called off later in the evening due to inclement weather. It was not clear if all tourists and their vehicles had been accounted for.

Rescue team members search for survivors after an avalanche in Sikkim on Tuesday. (REUTERS)

The army said five to six vehicles carrying up to 30 tourists to the strategically located Nathu La pass between Sikkim and Tibet were stuck under the snow when the avalanche hit. However, the exact number of people who were affected remained unclear through the day.

Seven bodies were brought out of the snow and 23 people were rescued alive, including six tourists from a deep valley, a state government official said, quoting reports from the army.

“Seven people died and we’re trying to ascertain where they are from. If there are more stranded tourists, we’ll carry out the rescue operation again tomorrow,” said Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang. Earlier reports said at least 50 people had been missing.

Government officials said 14 of the rescued tourists included residents of Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi. They were all undergoing treatment. At least 8 people among those rescued alive were in critical condition, senior police official Tenzing Loden Lepcha told Reuters on phone in the evening. There were no updates on the condition of the injured or their identities till the time of going to press.

Tamang, who was in Gujarat, returned to state capital of Gangtok on Tuesday evening and went to the city’s STNM Hospital to meet the injured tourists. He said the state will bear the cost of their treatment. Sikkim will also ship the bodies of the victims to their respective home states, he announced.

The avalanche, in Sikkim’s east district, hit the 14th Mile point on the arterial Jawaharlal Nehru Road, which connects Gangtok to Nathu La pass on the India-China border, at around 11.30am

Sikkim government officials said in the evening that rescue operations had to be suspended due to heavy snowfall.

ANI, quoting the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said on Twitter that all missing people and vehicles had been accounted for.

Loden Lepcha said that when the avalanche hit, people were taking photographs near a stream. Images released by ministry of defence showed rescue workers digging with shovels near a waterfall and yellow heavy machinery working to clear the churned up snow left by the avalanche.

Chewang Gyatso Sherpa, a local resident who joined the rescue operation, said, “Caught in a traffic jam, the tourists came out of their vehicles and started playing with the snow. An avalanche hit them all of a sudden and more than 40 people were swept away.”

Sherpa, who drives commercial vehicles for a living, said: “We managed to rescue ten people, including a child, who got buried under the snow, but seven of them were already dead. Local villagers and shop owners were the first to swing into action. They were later joined by the army, state disaster management teams, police and people from the tourism department.”

An additional 350 stranded tourists and 80 vehicles were rescued and brought to Gangtok after the snow was cleared from the road, the army statement said.

Tourists who survived the disaster were first taken to local army hospitals and later shifted to various hospitals in Gangtok.

Earlier in the day, Sonam Tenzing Bhutia, inspector general (check post) of Sikkim police said, “The victims include four men, a woman and a child. Their identity is yet to be established.”

Details about the seventh victim were not yet known.

Condoling the deaths, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a tweet by his office, said, “Distressed by the avalanche in Sikkim. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I hope the injured recover soon.

“All possible assistance is being provided to those affected,” the tweet added.

Union home minister Amit Shah said the Centre was closely monitoring the situation.

“My sincerest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in the tragic avalanche in Sikkim. We are closely monitoring the ... I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” he said in a post on Twitter.

Sikkim has been witnessing regular snowfall since March and there was continuous rain and snowfall from March 31 in areas such as 14th Mile and 15th Mile, weather experts said. As a result, movement of tourists was restricted up to 13th Mile point on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. The tourists who were stuck had forced the tour operators and drivers to take them to the area where the avalanche later hit, a police officer said, according to PTI.

Gopinath Raha, director of the meteorological department at Gangtok, said: “Generally, many parts of Sikkim receive snowfall between December and the first half of March. But this year, Sikkim is witnessing regular snowfall even in April due to western disturbance that was not seen till March. The western disturbance is penetrating even the southern parts of Sikkim with high moisture.”

“In the last 24 hours, Gangtok received a rainfall of 50mm, which is quite high. This means the upper ridges of Sikkim must have received heavy snowfall,” Raha added.

Thousands of tourists flock to Sikkim every year, also known as the “Land of Mystic Splendour”, located below Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world.

Nathu La, situated at 14,450 feet above the sea level, is one of the three open trading border posts between India and China. A major tourist destination, Nathu La serves as a route for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in China, considered one of the holiest pilgrimages in Hinduism.

Sikkim’s east district, which witnessed the massive avalanche on Tuesday, ranks ninth in landslide density and risk exposure among all districts in the country.

According to the Landslide Atlas of India, released by Isro’s Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre, Sikkim witnessed 1,561 landslides between 2011 and 2017, with most falling in the category of event-based landslides, triggered by earthquakes or heavy rainfall.

Sikkim’s south district ranks eighth across the country in terms of landslide density and risk exposure.

“Himalayas and Western Ghats are highly susceptible to mass movements due to hilly topography and heavy rainfall,” the Landslide Atlas of India said.

In June 2013, record monsoon rains in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods that claimed close to 6,000 lives, one of the worst natural disasters to strike in the country.

(With inputs from agencies)