Foreign tourists rescued from remote Indian-controlled Kashmir after bad weather

Описание: (1 Mar 2007)
1. Various of ski resort Gulmarg
2. Doctor treating Gay Landen, Israeli tourist
3. Various of doctor treating Franciska Rogne, Norwegian tourist
4. Rogne and Landen coming out from hospital
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Franciska Rogne, Norwegian tourist:
"We couldn't walk anywhere because the snow was too deep. There were avalanches everywhere. We were stuck on a ridge and there were avalanches around us. One night we had a small slide on our tent. So that's when we realised that we had a big problem. We couldn't get out, it was too heavy."
6. Wide of Rogne and man
7. Wide of Landen, Rogne and Ido Neigu, Canadian tourist (on right)
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Gay Landen, Israeli tourist:
"For the last two nights, the weather was really, really, really horrible. It was snowing like a metre and the whole mountain was shaking and everything was falling. Pretty much an avalanche risk of dying. It was cold and it was tough but we had good, good, good people so we managed to survive. People took care of us well."
9. Wide of rescued tourists walking with Ski Rescue team
10. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Shafiq Ahmed, Police official, Gulmarg:
"There were three ski patrols comprising of the army, police and the ski rescue team. They launched the operation from three sides and rescued all three tourists near Hapat Khud and were later taken to Gulmarg."
11. Wide of Ski patrol team
STORYLINE:
Three foreign tourists stranded in heavy snow in Indian administered Kashmir were rescued and brought to safety by the Indian army on Thursday.
Gay Landen, Ido Neigu and Franciska Rogne were trapped in snow on the Apharwat Ridge line, officials said.
A rescue team from the High Altitude Warfare school led the operation, hampered for many hours by limited visibility and heavy snowfall.
After skiing down steep slopes and walking uphill, the rescue team found the three tourists; wet, cold and unable to move.
Franciska Rogne, a Norwegian tourist who was trapped said they could not walk because the snow was too deep.
''There were avalanches everywhere. We were stuck on a ridge and there were avalanches around us. One night we had a small slide on our tent. So that's when we realised, we had a big problem. We couldn't get out, it was too heavy."
The three tourists were brought back to Gulmarg and given medical assistance.
"For the last two nights, the weather was really, really, really, horrible," said Gay Landen, an Israeli tourist.
"It was snowing like a metre and the whole mountain was shaking and everything was falling. Pretty much an avalanche risk of dying. It was cold and it was tough but we had good, good, good people so we managed to survive. People took care of us well,'' Landen added.
Shafiq Ahmed, a police official in Gulmarg said that there were three ski patrols - the army, police and the ski rescue team.
"They launched the operation from three sides and rescued all three tourists near Hapat Khud and were later taken to Gulmarg."
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only surface link between Indian administered Kashmir and the rest of India, remained closed for the tenth day on Thursday due to bad weather.

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