Mumbai tourist dies from cold exposure in freezing Manali

KULLU: A tourist from Mumbai visiting Manali in Himachal Pradesh with relatives died suddenly Tuesday night, apparently from cold exposure. Police identified her as 38-year-old Priyanka Vishnu Dukhande, a resident of Kalachowki, Mumbai.

Manali has been freezing in below-zero temperatures for the past few days.Police said Priyanka had gone to the picturesque Solang Valley, 15km from Manali, Tuesday morning with her aunt. On the way back, she suddenly started having uncontrolled shivering and her condition deteriorated rapidly. Her aunt rushed her to a hospital in Manali.After a preliminary examination, doctors declared Priyanka dead, said a police officer, ruling out foul play.Landslide in KulluA landslide triggered panic near Pahnala village in Kullu district on Thursday morning. There was no loss of life or property, said an official. “Landslides rarely occur in winter. The recent heavy rain may have triggered this one,” said the official. DRDO’s Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment has issued a level-2 yellow alert for avalanches in altitudes of 3,200m or more in Chamba, Lahaul & Spiti, Kullu and Kinnaur districts.

An avalanche struck near the North Portal of Atal Tunnel on Tuesday. Kukumseri in Lahaul & Spiti was the coldest in state Thursday, recording a minimum temperature of -14.9°C, withManali at -0.7°C.Quake in KinnaurAn earthquake of 3.5 magnitude hit Kinnaur on Thursday. According to National Centre for Seismology, the earthquake struck at 3.59am, had a depth of 5km and its epicentre was in the district’s Chango area.