Saturday, February 19 2005 22:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: Nine people, including seven workers engaged in clearing roads of snow, were feared killed since Friday (Feb 18, 2005) night as fresh snowfalls triggered avalanches at various places in Jammu and Kashmir.

The snowfalls also forced the closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway and the cancellation of flights for the second consecutive day, official sources said today (Feb 19, 2005).

Two workers engaged in road-clearing works were buried in an avalanche in Kangdoola on Kargil-Leh road in Ladakh region on Saturday morning. Two people were rescued and their condition was said to be critical, the sources said.

Five Beacons personnel, who went missing after a snow slide hit the Jawahar Tunnel on Friday, could not be traced as unprecedented snowfall hampered rescue operations, the sources said. The five were feared killed, they added.

Two persons were killed when avalanches damaged three houses at Shulipora village in Anantnag district, the sources said.

Normal life was paralysed in the summer capital in the wake of the heaviest snowfall in 15 years, with the city receiving two feet of snow till noon, they said.

A massive snow slide also hit Nag village of Keran in Kupwara district damaging nearly half a dozen residential houses. However, no casualty was reported.

The sources said 27 houses were damaged under the impact of heavy snowfall in Shopian, Pahalgam, Tral, Anantnag and Qazigund in south Kashmir and one each at Barzulla and Kangan in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, two ill persons, including a four-year-old girl, died when timely medical attention could not be made available to them due to snow-covered roads in Tral area of Pulwama district.