SRINAGAR: At least two people including a girl were killed and two others remained trapped under snow after two avalanches struck the Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Tuesday, cutting off the state from the rest of the country.

A police official said an avalanche hit Jawahar tunnel early in the morning and blocked both tubes of the tunnel from the Qazigund side.  He said heavy snow accumulated on both tubes of the tunnel completely cutting off the highway. The official said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which looks after the maintenance of the 296-km highway, pressed its men and machinery into service.

Hundreds of vehicles including trucks and passenger vehicles remained stuck on both sides of highway.
In another incident, an avalanche also hit Trigam village of Ramban district on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at around 3 pm. 

Four people including an 11-year-old girl Sumerna and two women were buried in the snow due to avalanche. 

The locals, police and Army men immediately rushed to the area and launched a rescue operation. 
The rescue teams retrieved bodies of male and minor girl, a police official said.
Efforts to extricate others from under the snow were ongoing when this publication went to Press.