Avalanche buries Yarsagumba pickers’ tents in Byas, Darchula

Avalanche occurred at Byas Rural Municipality-1, Boling in Darchula this afternoon buried tents where yarsa pickers were taking shelter.

Some people were said to have disappeared after the avalanche buried the tent where they had been temporarily residing, informed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the Armed Police Force (APF), Number 50 Company, Chhangaru, Iswori Dutta Bhatta.

A team of 25 APF personnel under his leadership is heading to the incident site. “It takes an hour for us to reach there. Then only we will know the ground realities”, informed DSP Bhatta who was on the way to the avalanche site.

He further shared that it would take longer time to reach the site due to plummeting oxygen level in the high altitude.

The yarsa pickers had been sheltering in the avalanche-occurred area under the tent after snowfall since few days back.

“As informed, some pickers were outside the tent in search of firewood when the event took place. We knew about the incident when they informed us about the avalanche”, DSP Bhatta said.

According to the information received, the yarsa collectors were not only from local area but also from other districts, he added.
DSP Bhatta further shared that there was a trouble in rescuing the buried persons due to bad weather condition.

Byas-1 ward chairperson Ashok Bohora said the yarsa pickers had ascended to the high altitude area for collecting precious herbs some days ago.

“There was continuous snowfall. The yarsa pickers had been living under the tent but were not being able to go outside for yarsa hunting”, he further shared.

Information Officer at the District Police Office, Darchula, Police Inspector Gyanendra Bahadur Singh informed that a police team from the Byas-based Sita Bridge was also heading to the incident site.