Almost all stranded persons in Himachal Pradesh's snowbound Lahaul and Spiti district have been evacuated to safer places, PTI reported on Thursday, 27 September, citing officials.
While a total of 99 stranded persons, including 18 foreigners, have been airlifted from various inaccessible areas of Lahaul tehsil, over 1,000 persons were transported to safer places by roads in the last three days, officials added.
Several roads, including Darcha-Khoksar and Tandi-Thirot, have been cleared of snow by Border Road Organisation (BRO) personnel, they said. These roads are now ready for vehicular traffic after they were closed due to untimely snowfall and rains.
A total of 63 persons, including three German citizens, were airlifted on Thursday by three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters, a Kullu district official said, adding that the rescued were flown to a temporary helipad in Kullu district.
The evacuation operation was coordinated by IAF wing commander SK Ahuja. Earlier, five stranded persons had been airlifted on Tuesday, whereas 31 were airlifted on Wednesday, which included 15 foreigners.
The 18 foreigners who were evacuated in the last three days include four Danish, three German, eight Nepalese, one Bhutani and two Norwegian citizens, PTI reported, citing officials.
All airlifted persons have been provided first-aid at the regional hospital in Kullu and most of them were discharged immediately, Kullu deputy commissioner Yunus said.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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