Trapped in snow, two teenagers die of hypothermia in Dharamsala mountains

PTI

Dharamsala, January 24

Two teenage boys, stuck in heavy snowfall with two others during trekking to the Rising Star hilltop in the Dhauladhar mountain range in Himachal’s Kangra district, died of hypothermia, police said on Monday.

Two other boys were rescued by a police team and have been admitted to Dharamsala Zonal Hospital, Kangra’s Superintendent of Police Kaushal Sharma said.

The police identified the deceased as Rohit, 16, a resident of Slate Godown village near Dharamsala and Monty, 18, of Nurpur village in the district.

Two others who are undergoing treatment at the hospital were identified as Rohit, 18, and Satyam, 17, both of Slate Godwan village, the police said.

The police launched the rescue operation amid heavy snowfall after coming to know of the trapped boys from their relatives and managed to reach the spot where the boys were trapped.

On reaching the spot, the police found one of the boys already dead, and they began a return journey with the three others, one of whom died on the way to the hospital, Sharma said.

The body of the second boy is yet to be retrieved, he said, adding that his body is likely to be retrieved on Tuesday.

Following the death of the two teenagers, former Himachal minister and Congress’ national secretary Sudhir Sharma expressed deep grief over the incident and accused the government of having a poor disaster management mechanism in the state.

“This is not the first time that such an incident has happened. Some time back also two persons had lost their lives near Dharamsala under similar circumstances,” he said.

He said the Dhauladhar Range is an easily approachable snow line in Asia and there are many treks in this area and not only the locals but tourists also visit this place for trekking.

The trek to Dhauladhar is known for the Alpine trekking route, which is why it is a centre of attraction, the Congress leader said, adding the government, however, has made no proper arrangement to rescue trapped trackers.

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