Tourists stranded in Himalayas rescued by BRO in Himachal

In a major operation amid the sub-zero temperatures in the Himalayas, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Saturday rescued around 300 motorists, largely tourists, stranded on a major pass in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul-Spiti district.

They were stranded with the closure of the road network in the Baralacha Pass area owing to onset of heavy snowfall on the night of Friday.

Following a distress call about 10-km traffic jam near the Baralacha Pass, a team of the BRO comprising Maj Ravishankar, Capt Adhil Rishad, junior engineer Parveen Kumar and others of the BRO Project Deepak, 38 BRTF, rushed to Zing Zing Bar on the Manali-Sarchu road to take a stock of situation and assist the stranded.

Approximately 80 to 90 light motor vehicles, 30 to 40 bikers and 300 to 400 heavy motor vehicles got stranded due to traffic blockage, said the BRO.

After rushing to the location, 15 BRO personnel along with 17 from the police jointly carried out rescue operation and evacuated LMVs to lower altitude.

Around 130 people in stranded vehicles were provided essential medicines. However, no casualty has been reported.

In spite of heavy snowfall, brave BRO personnel assisted the stranded people without any regards to own safety and comfort, an official said.