KARGIL, Oct. 2
Three people were reported missing after a car skidded off the road and plunged into a river in the Zanskar area of Ladakh’s Kargil district on Friday, prompting a joint search and rescue operation.
Officials said the accident involved an Alto car travelling on the Zanskar road when it went off the roadway and fell into the river.
Soon after information about the accident was received, teams from Ladakh Police and the Indian Army joined local volunteers in launching a search for the occupants of the vehicle.
Rescue personnel are searching the river and adjoining areas in an effort to locate the three missing people.
The operation is continuing, and no confirmation has yet been issued about the whereabouts or condition of the occupants.
Authorities have also not released the identities of the three people reported missing.
Details about where the vehicle was travelling from or its intended destination were not immediately available.
The circumstances that caused the car to leave the road also remain unclear. Officials have not indicated whether road conditions, weather, a mechanical problem or another factor may have contributed to the accident.
Zanskar’s mountainous terrain and river valleys can make both road travel and rescue operations difficult, particularly when a vehicle enters a fast-moving waterway.
The immediate priority for the joint rescue teams is locating the missing occupants.
Police and Army personnel, assisted by local volunteers familiar with the terrain, are continuing searches in the river and surrounding locations where the vehicle or its occupants could have been carried.
Further information is expected as the rescue operation progresses.
Until then, authorities have confirmed only that an Alto car plunged into the river on the Zanskar road, three occupants are missing, and a multi-agency search involving Ladakh Police, the Army and local volunteers is underway.
