india

Updated: Aug 19, 2019 10:11 IST

Hundreds of tourists were left stranded near a lake in Himachal Pradesh’s tribal Lahaul and Spiti district after a freak snowfall on Sunday cut off roads in the region, officials said.

According to officials, about 150 tourists were stuck in Chandra Tal lake near Kaza town. The crescent-shaped lake is situated at an altitude of about 4,300 metres or 14,100ft in the Himalayas.

They said the tourists could not be rescued because of inclement weather condition and that authorities have dispatched a team of rescuers.

Fresh snow spell threw life out of gear in the tribal district where more than 34 roads were cut off due to snow and rains. The worst affected is the Miyar valley which was cut off due to landslides at several places on the roads leading to the region. More than 300 vehicles were also stranded on the Spiti-Leh road after flash floods in nullahs triggered landslides.

Lahaul, Jispa Nengar also received a fresh spell of snow. The two main passes of Baralacha La located at a height of 16040 feet and Shinkula at 16,700 feet also received fresh snowfall on Sunday night.

At least 23 people have been killed since Friday across Himachal Pradesh as incessant rain continued to lash the state. Himachal Pradesh received the highest rainfall in 24 hours on Sunday since 2011.

“Himachal received 102.5 mm rain on August 18 which is 1065% more than normal, breaking the record of 74mm rain which the state witnessed on August 14, 2011,” director of the state’s meteorological department Manmohan Singh said.

The highest rainfall was recorded in Bilaspur district which witnessed 252mm which is 2,586% more than the normal.