IAF airlifts 1,377 people in Kashmir

Srinagar: A total of 1,377 tourists and locals stranded because of bad weather were transported by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Srinagar to Jammu and vice-versa Saturday.

“The last IAF sortie operated as late as 11 p.m. Saturday,” Amir Ali, in charge of the disaster management cell, told IANS. He said 827 passengers were flown from Srinagar to

Jammu in six IAF sorties and 550 from Jammu to Srinagar in four sorties, he said.

All these people got stranded in the two cities
after heavy snowfall shut the Srinagar-Jammu highway and bad weather hit flights between the two cities.

While priority was given to stranded tourists in Srinagar, stranded locals were airlifted on priority from Jammu to Srinagar. More than 2,000 stranded people had registered themselves for the special sorties.