ANI reporter killed, 2 injured in avalanche near Manali

A Kullu based reporter who was working with
ANI was killed after an avalanche struck the Rahla Fall area on Manali-Rohtang highway while he was shooting the snow-clearance operation of Border Roads
Organization (BRO), about 28 km on Manali-Leh highway on Wednesday.

Prem Thakur, son of Sunu Ram, resident of Puid village near Kullu, was shooting the BRO
personnel on work along with his assistant cameraman Karan, son of Lal Chand,
near Rahla waterfall on Manali-Rohtang highway when an avalanche struck the area with a snow clearing machine operator Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh rolled
down towards valley up to a long distance and sustained minor injuries.

According to Mahabir Thakur, deputy director of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), an intensive search and rescue operation was launched to recover the missing press correspondent. “The body was recovered from snow after around four hours of search,” he said.

Search operation was carried out with the help from rescue experts from ABVIMAS, police and BRO personnel. Heavy snowfall and cold temperature hampered the search operation as snowfall was continuing since afternoon. The daring reporter, Prem Thakur (28), was brought to his home in Kullu for last rites late night. Prem had contributed to the promotion of tourism in Himachal with his unique coverage for national and international TV channels.