KARGIL: A 35-year-old man was confirmed dead while three others, including two women, remain missing after a vehicle plunged into the Drass River near Marpoochoo in Drass during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said.
The accident occurred when a Fronx vehicle reportedly skidded off the road and fell into the river, prompting a large-scale search and rescue operation involving multiple agencies and local volunteers.
The deceased has been identified as Aga Syed Baqir, whose body was recovered from the Thanda Morh area of Chowkiyal. The three other occupants of the vehicle — Sajad Hussain (26), Hasina Banoo (25) and Sogra Banoo (23) — remained untraced till the filing of this report.
According to officials, all four individuals were travelling in the vehicle at the time of the accident. Rescue teams launched an extensive search operation immediately after receiving information about the incident.
The operation is being carried out jointly by the Ladakh Police, Union Territory Disaster Response Force (UTDRF), Basij Imam IKMT volunteers and local youth from Drass. Search teams are combing the river stretch and adjoining areas in an effort to locate the missing persons.
Officials said adverse conditions, including strong river currents and difficult terrain, have posed considerable challenges to rescue efforts. They noted that the likelihood of finding survivors diminishes with the passage of time, though search operations are continuing on a war footing.
The incident has sent shockwaves across the region, with residents closely following developments as rescue teams persist in their efforts to trace the missing occupants.
Authorities said the cause of the accident is being ascertained and further details will be shared as the search operation progresses.
