White Death: Avalanche strikes near Sikkim’s Nathula Road for the first time; seven tourists killed, 13 rescued 

An avalanche at Thulo khola on the Nathula Road connecting Sikkim’s capital Gangtok with the strategic Nathula Pass killed seven tourists on April 4, 2023, the district collector of Gangtok told journalists. The dead include four men, two women and a child from Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Approximately 20 tourists, along with 5-6 vehicles, were trapped in the avalanche. A search operation was mounted in which 13 tourists were rescued and taken to the district hospital STNM in the Sochakgang area of Gangtok city. Meanwhile, the dead bodies of the deceased persons have been brought to the hospital for their identification.

PS Golay, the chief minister of Sikkim, visited the STNM Hospital to check on the tourists injured in the avalanche. He stated that all injured individuals from any state would receive free treatment at the hospital, and the deceased would be taken to their respective residences. The rescue operation would continue the next day for any stranded tourists.

Golay also informed that the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team had rescued several individuals and the National Disaster Response Force will arrive for the search operation on April 5.

The chief minister, who arrived in Delhi even as the avalanche struck, spoke to the district collector and supreintendents of police in East Sikkim, along with the state health secretary, medical superintendent, and home secretary upon learning of the incident.

“Regarding the number of tourists still buried, there were conflicting reports across news and social media, and families were contacting the Sikkim government. Therefore, a helpline had been initiated immediately”, Golay said.

Sikkim Police Special Director General of Police Akshay Sachdeva who reached the spot along with other Gangtok district police officials, stated:

For years, tourists have been coming to Changu or Tsangmo Lake and Nathula but never has an avalanche occured at 13th Mile which is at a substantially low altitude. Even we are surprised as to how the avalanche occured here. Our first priority is saving as many people as possible. Even if there are more people buried in the snow we want to rescue them alive. Keeping them alive is very important. 

The Gangtok district collector, Tushar Nikhare, informed that upon receiving information, the Gangtok district’s Incident Response Team was immediately activated, with Nikhare as the incident commander.

The search and rescue operation was carried out by the Army, General Reserve Engineer Force, SDRF, Police, local residents, and overseen by the operation section chief (Supreintendent of Police, Gangtok).

The disaster management team of STNM Hospital was also activated, and an ambulance, trauma specialist, and team were dispatched to the scene, Nikhare added.

Gangtok Supreintendent of Police, Tenzing Loden Lepcha said since rescue is of utmost importance as there are some tourists who are traveling alone, making it difficult to locate them, helpline numbers were floated immediately.

“Over 500 vehicle passes were issued up to the 15th mile, and all the vehicles have returned thus far. The hoteliers, travel agents, and taxi drivers have found their respective tourists, except for those who came alone, making it challenging for us to contact their hotels,” Lepcha said.

He added that despite warnings not to climb the supposed stream below the snow, the tourists considered it safe and continued to have fun which led to this unfortunate and unavoidable natural calamity.

“We advise tourists to follow the norms and directions, and we send them to their destinations based on India Meteorological Department weather reports. However, as a natural disaster cannot be predicted beforehand, we urge them to exercise caution,” added the SP.

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