Three of a group of 13 tourists die in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur due to bad weather

Three tourists from Mumbai died in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district on Sunday due to snowfall and extremely bad weather conditions, officials said. The deceased have been identified as Deepak Narayan (58), Rajender Pathak (65) and Ashok Madhukar (64), they said. Thirteen tourists — 12 from Mumbai and one from Delhi — were going to Sangla in Kinnaur from Janglik in Shimla via Barua Kanda. Three of them died due to adverse weather conditions and snowfall, while the remaining 10 were left stranded, Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Apoorva Devgan said. He said that a police team had been sent to Barua-Kanda to rescue the tourists and by late evening all the 10 tourists were safely evacuated and brought to Karchham. He said that a team of ITBP personnel has been sent to the spot to bring the three bodies. According to a Times of India report, in order to avoid any untoward incident, the deputy commissioner has requested all the tourists and others coming to Kinnaur district not to visit the high altitude areas of the district due to bad weather and snowfall. He has also requested the residents of the district to come out of their homes only if it is absolutely necessary and take precautions as there is the threat of shooting stones due to rains. He said that the search is still on to trace the two missing tourists who were part of an 11-member group that was coming from Harsil in Uttrakhand towards Chhitkul in Kinnaur district. The group was left stranded in the snow at Lamkhaga pass and when the rescue operation was launched initially five bodies were recovered and two persons were rescued while four were missing. Later two more trekkers were found dead while a search is on for the remaining two missing trekkers. With input from agencies