Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 28: Army operation in Gumri in Kargil continued for the third day today to trace out driver of a truck who was buried under a snow avalanche that struck the Srinagar- Leh National Highway on Friday.
Three vehicles including two trucks were buried under snow avalanche. Six persons including drivers were rescued but one of them is still missing. Army pressed its men from special trained high altitude warfare school into service to find out the missing driver. The sniffer dogs are helping them to trace out the driver.
Srinagar-Leh National High-way is prone to accident as snow has not melted fully yet from Zojila and Gumri areas. The highway was opened for traffic this month after it remained closed since December 2012.
In the meantime, the 434-km Srinagar -Leh highway was thrown open for vehicular traffic today after remaining closed for two day due to avalanches. This was the second time that the highway had been closed since it was reopened early this month after remaining closed for six months due to snowfall.
All the vehicles stranded on both the sides of the Zojila were cleared till last night. Vehicles from both sides were also allowed today.
The threat of avalanches looms large because of fresh rainfall in the area. However, the snow clearance operations were started which enabled early reopening of the road, the officials said.
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