Army team rescues Dhawalagiri avalanche site

A team of the Nepal Army has returned to the avalanche affected area in Gurja of Dhawalagiri Gaonpalika-1 on Thursday.

Ram Bahadur Chhantyal, 50, went missing after being buried in an avalanche at Sukelatte in Gurja. Jagdevi Chhantyal, Buddhi Chhantyal and Lal Bahadur Bk, who were living in a cowshed far from the settlement, were stranded in the snow.

Chief District Officer of Myagdi, Chiranjivi Rana, informed that the army team reached the place where the people of Gurja went missing and stranded by helicopter from Kathmandu. According to him, the army team returned to the helicopter after searching for food and missing persons.

Gurja Ward Chairman jhak Chhantyal said that the locals had reached the spot to search for Ram Bahadur after the snow melted. He said that the place where the cowshed was located was damaged due to avalanche during the night.

The footpath, electricity and mobile services connecting Gurja in geographically remote and inaccessible areas have also been disrupted. You have to walk for a whole day to reach Gurja from neighboring Lulang. According to Resham Chhantyal, vice-chairman of the village, an army helicopter was called to search for the missing persons as they could not reach the site on foot.