Jammu, Oct 19 (PTI) Nearly 70 passengers stranded after suspension of traffic on the Mughal road here due to heavy snowfall in high altitude areas have been rescued and the road cleared of snow, officials said on Wednesday.

However, traffic on the road connecting Poonch in Jammu with South Kashmir's Shopian has been put on halt due to slippery road conditions.

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There was snowfall in high altitude areas on Tuesday evening, leaving dozens of vehicles stranded between Pir Ki Gali and Poshana in Poonch, they said.

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A joint rescue operation by police and Army was launched around 9 pm and was still continuing when last reports were received, the officials said.

"Nearly 70 passengers of 28 vehicles including 15 Light Motor Vehicles have been rescued and evacuated to safer places", Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Aftab Shah told PTI.

He said the highway has been cleared of snow but traffic has not been allowed due to extreme slippery road conditions.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)