While Kashmiri women (above) play with snowballs, and at a time when the Jammu and Kashmir police is making use of its workforce and gear to supplement the government’s endeavour to cope with the tough conditions created by the heavy snowfall the Valley has been receiving for the past couple of days, its officials overseeing a training school were caught napping, resulting in the death of a trainee and injuries to 38 others on Monday.
The deceased has been identified as Vikram Singh, who was among the 39 trainees and officials injured when the barracks they were staying in at the Police Training Centre, Lethpora, about 20 km south of Srinagar, collapsed due to the weight of snow accumulated on its roof. Confirming the report, a police handout said that the injured were immediately shifted to different hospitals in Srinagar but one of them succumbed. The condition of three injured trainees is stated to be critical.