Shimla, Sept. 18 -- Two female pilgrims died of suspected exposure to extreme cold and hypoxia while circumambulating the sacred Mount Drilbu Ri amid sudden snowfall in the Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. The deceased have been identified as Yangzin, 61, a resident of Keylong, and Dawa Doma Bhutiya, 74, from Darjeeling in West Bengal.

Fifteen pilgrims were hospitalised in Keylong after suffering injuries caused by slips and falls in the snow and symptoms of high-altitude sickness. Police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams rescued all 700 pilgrims who had set out for the parikrama. Mount Drilbu Ri, a revered Buddhist site in the Lahaul Valley near Keylong, stands at an altitude of around 4,435 metres ...