Avalanche strikes car carrying six in J&K`s Kupwara

The six passengers, reported to be tourists, are missing and a search and rescue operation has been launched.

A car carrying six people was swept away by an avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara on Friday.

The six passengers, reported to be tourists, and another three are missing, and a search and rescue operation has been launched by teams of police, Army, SDRF and Mountain Rescue. Heavy and continuous snowfall in the area though has made it difficult for local teams to locate the vehicle and its passengers.

Avalanches are becoming frequent in upper reaches of the state with several army outposts too being struck in the past. Last month, three soldiers went missing when an avalanche hit their outpost Gurez - their bodies recovered days later. In a separate incident, two soldiers went down a deep gorge in the Nowgam sector along the LoC.

The MeT department has predicted that the cold wave in the state and across most parts of northern India is likely to continue till the end of the week.