Cold intensifies in North; 6 killed,14 hurt in Himachal landslide

Among the dead were a 17-year-old girl,a resident of Kinnaur,while the rest were all Nepali labourers. Two persons were feared to have drowned in Sutlej river. Four of the injured were critical and referred to Rampur hospital in Shimla.

Kinnaur S P Y S Pathania said,“The incident occurred at 7.45 am when many labourers were asleep. So far,this cannot be linked to tremors due to blasting at the hydro power site. It seems that after the recent rain and snowfall at the higher reaches,the boulders on the hills above the project site became loose and rolled down.”

He said 45 persons,a majority of them labourers,were living at Kaksthal in temporary tinsheds. Directions had been given to shift the rest of the people living in sheds to a safer place.

The Sub-Divisional Magistrate,Nichar sub-division of Kinnaur,announced an ex gratia of Rs 10,000 to the family of the deceased and Rs 5,000 for the injured. A search was on for the missing persons.

Meanwhile,Leh and Kargil reeled under severe cold wave,recording a night temperature of minus 12 C and minus 8 C respectively as Pahalgam was the coldest in the Valley at minus 3.2 degree Celsius. While Srinagar registered a low of minus 0.4 C,temperature in Jammu fell by almost two notches than Saturday to settle at 8.2 C. The state has also received fresh snowfall since last evening,with Gulmarg and Khilanmarg areas recording seven to nine feet of snow.

Punjab and Haryana too experienced cold weather.

with PTI inputs