CHAMBA: Two young relatives died after getting trapped in heavy snowfall in the upper reaches of the Barmani range while filming social media reels, in one of the most tragic incidents reported from the region this winter.On January 22, the duo travelled to the Barmani Temple and then moved into higher reaches of the range, an area known to be dangerous after fresh snowfall. Nineteen-year-old Biksit Rana, who was active on social media, had taken along his 13-year-old relative Ayush to assist him in shooting videos.Sub-divisional magistrate (Bharmour) Vikas Sharma said the boys continued their journey despite a yellow alert warning of snowfall. Weather conditions worsened overnight, with heavy snow and poor visibility.When the boys did not return home by the morning of January 23, their families alerted the administration. Officials later said snow accumulation was around two feet at Barmani Temple, while the upper reaches where the boys were believed to be present had more than three feet of snow.A rescue operation involving police, SDRF teams, trained mountaineers and local volunteers was launched but repeatedly disrupted due to fresh snowfall and another yellow alert issued on January 23.During this period, Biksit managed to call his family and said his fingers had gone numb, preventing him from sharing his location. He told them that Ayush was weakening and that he was trying to bring him back using a sleeping bag.On January 24, poor visibility hampered efforts to deploy drones, and helicopter support was not immediately available. Rescue operations gained momentum on January 25 after the Indian Air Force deployed two helicopters along with SDRF teams. Multiple sorties were flown despite difficult terrain and weather.On Monday morning, one helicopter spotted a body in the snow with a pit bull standing beside it. Ayush had brought his pet dogs along, and the pit bull initially did not allow rescuers to approach the body. The body was later recovered and airlifted. In a subsequent sortie, one dog was rescued, while the other remained missing.Later, in another operation, rescuers located and recovered the second body around the same location. By Monday afternoon, both bodies were handed over to the families. The last rites will be performed on Tuesday.
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