Three, including minor boy, killed in avalanche in Banihal

Two women and a boy were killed as an avalanche hit the mountainous belt of Mahoo area in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir this morning, police said.
"Hajra (23) and Gulsan (35), and 10-year-old Parvez, all residents of Bajnari hamlet of Banihal Tehsil in Ramban district, got buried under a massive avalanche near Mahoo area in the morning," a police official said.
The locals rushed to the spot and tried to dig them out from the snow, he said adding, "It took almost three hours to dig them out. Parvez had already died whereas the other two women who were still breathing died a couple of hours later."

Meanwhile, local people said the two women could have been saved if proper medical care were available.
"We asked the administration to air-lift the two women to the district hospital, but nothing was arranged for them and they too died almost two to three hours after being taken out of the snow," a resident of the area said.