Pahalgam, June 22: Two trekkers including a tourist and a local guide are feared to be dead after they drowned in a fast moving stream during a descent from Tarsar Lake in Pahalgam area of Anantnag district, officials said.
On Wednesday morning, the local administration in Pahalgam received information about a mishap in the upper reaches of Aru area where two trekkers had drowned while crossing a makeshift wooden bridge in Hamvas area during intense rain and snowfall.
The authorities and locals quickly swung into action and dispatched a joint rescue team comprising local police, local adventure tour operators and personnel from SDRF and NDRF.
Giving detail about the incident, tehsildar Pahalgam, Mohammad Hussain said that on Wednesday morning they received distressing news about the drowning of two trekkers while they were coming down from Tarsar Lake amid intense rainfall.
“We had already issued an advisory to all the hikers and trekkers for not conducting any kind of hiking trips due to the inclement weather.
“Unfortunately two members among the team of 13 hikers fell in the stream who are untraceable until the last reports. Rest of the 11 trekkers including two local guides have been safely brought to Aru village where they are being provided the treatment," said the tehsildar.
The missing hiker has been identified as Dr Rakesh, a resident of Haldwani Uttarakhand while the local guide and tour operator was identified as Shakeel Ahmed hailing from Gagangeer area of Ganderbal district.
Talking about the incident, a local informed Rising Kashmir that the duo fell in the river after Shakeel tried to save the tourist who slipped from the makeshift bridge over stream.
"Shakeel was carrying a huge load over his shoulders and while crossing the log bridge at Hamvas as Dr Rakesh slipped, Shakeel tried to save him by grabbing his arm and in the process both lost the balance and fell in the stream. Due to dense fog and intense rainfall the visibility was almost zero and throughout the day both of them remained untraceable", said a local.
Another local rescuer from Pahalgam.Gowhar Wani, revealed that the trekking group was supposed to descend from Tarsar on Thursday. However, due to one feet heavy snowfall during the night the group decided to leave the area on Wednesday only, he said.
Wani added that the duo after falling into the river was visible and waving hands upto 300 meters in the river after which they disappeared under the waterfall.
He said that we were only able to retrieve the bag of guide Shakeel Ahmed.