Five persons were missing while three others were injured when an avalanche hit a cluster of houses in Kafnu village in Himachal Pradesh’s tribal Kinnaur village, 190 km from here, this morning.
Eight houses collapsed in the avalanche and initial reports said eight persons were missing but later it was found that three persons trapped inside the collapsed house at Moranung Nallah in the village were alive but injured.
It was difficult to locate the houses as the entire area was covered under four feet of snow and the approach to the village had been blocked, officials said.
Moranung Nallah being an avalanche prone area, six families had vacated their houses sensing the avalanche threat, but the families of Sarla Devi, a widow and Birman Chand were inside when the calamity struck.
Later Birman, his wife and daughter were found trapped in the ground floor of the building. They were in the upper storey but had rushed to the ground floor and survived as the upper storey collapsed.
Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner J.M. Pathania said a local panchayat panch had informed the authorities that an avalanche had struck near village Kafnu and relief and rescue teams were immediately rushed to the spot.
The entire tribal belt has been experiencing heavy snowfall for the past three days and normal life has been completely paralysed as all the highways and link roads were blocked due to snow and even pedestrian movement within the tribal valleys has come to a halt.
The higher reaches in the State and mid-hills, including the State capital Shimla, have been experiencing intermittent heavy snowfall since last night and various parts of the town recorded 15 to 30 cm of snow till this morning.
The tribal Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts and the tribal areas of Pangi and Bharmaur have also been experiencing heavy snowfall for the past three days and all schools have been closed in Lahaul and Spiti district for three days.
The MeT office has warned of avalanche threat in the high altitude tribal areas and district authorities have advised the people not to venture out till the hostile weather conditions and snowstorm subsides.
The piercing cold wave sweeping the region has further intensified and snowfall and strong velocity icy winds have forced people to stay indoors.
However, the snowfall has brought cheer to skiers who are thronging the ski slopes at Solang Nallah, where a winter carnival is to commence from February 9.