196 stranded passengers airlifted in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir government Sunday airlifted 196 stranded passengers from and to the Kargil town of Ladakh region.

"As many as 72 passengers were airlifted in two sorties from Kargil to Srinagar, 31 from Kargil to Jammu, 48 from Jammu to Kargil and 45 from Srinagar to Kargil in AN-32 Kargil Courier.

"The flights had been cancelled earlier due to inclement weather," Kargil district magistrate Fida Hussain said.

"Kargil Courier" service is the name given to government-arranged sorties of AN-32 aircrafts used during the winter months to carry stranded passengers to Jammu and Srinagar as the Srinagar-Leh national highway remains closed for over five months because of heavy snowfall on the Zojila Pass that connects the cold desert Ladakh region with the rest of the country.