The Army on Sunday said its troops rescued about 400 domestic and foreign tourists from 18,000 feet (5,475 m)-high Tangtse-Chang La (pass) in Ladakh hit by massive landslide on Saturday.
The Jammu and Kashmir police has, meanwhile, said that due to a landslide the road between Tangtse and Leh was washed away at Choltak and that it and the district administration rescued all the stranded passengers travelling in 87 vehicles to Leh and also some more vehicles on way to Leh from Chushul via Tsaga.
Defence sources said that landslide struck the mountain road in east of Leh at 10.45 am, blocking about 250 metres stretch. About 150 vehicles with 400 tourists onboard were stranded along the road and their lives threatened in view of the possibility of occurring of more landslides.
“Army troops deployed in the area immediately swung into action and provided assistance to the stranded tourists by evacuating them to safe places and to their camp in Tangtse, where they were served food and beverages and provided warm clothing and medical assistance,” defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Rajesh Kalia said.
He added that quick reaction medical teams administered oxygen besides providing first-aid to the tourists who were suffering from high altitude sickness. One seriously ill tourist was evacuated to Leh, the main town of Ladakh, in an Army ambulance. Majority of the tourists have since relocated to Leh safely, reports said.
The spokesperson further said that efforts by the Army and Border Road Organisation (BRO) to expeditiously clear the road block were underway. “Army units are on ‘stand by’ to assist any stranded tourists. The road is likely to be opened by Sunday afternoon,” he said.
This was the second such incident in past one week when the Army had to step in to rescue tourists caught in seemingly dangerous situations in Ladakh.