Kashmir: 2 foreigns dead in Gulmarg avalanche

Representative image

Two foreign skiers were killed and nearly 20 others rescued in Kashmir on February 1 after an avalanche swept through the popular ski resort of Gulmarg, police said.

The skiers are all foreign nationals but the police have yet to make their nationalities public.

"A massive rescue operation has been launched," Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters. "Two bodies have been recovered so far."

Another 19 foreign nationals have been rescued by authorities, local police informed on Twitter, adding that the bodies of the two deceased skiers have been shifted to a hospital.

The skiers were hit by the avalanche in the Affarwat area of Gulmarg, Kumar said, days after heavy snowfall in the hills of Kashmir.

A video of the avalanche shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a wall of snow roaring down a mountainside, sending skiers and other onlookers scurrying for safety.