Snowed Kashmir: On way to hospital woman gives birth to baby on stretcher

With most of the roads in Kashmir valley remaining closed due to the heavy snowfall, a woman in southern Shopian district had to give birth to a baby on a stretcher while being ferried to a medical facility.

Reports said Akhtar Jan, a resident of remote Zrakan village in Shopian, 65 km from here, gave birth to a baby while she was being ferried on a stretcher to a nearby medical facility, some eight km away, in Kellar area.

The family of the woman had to shift her to the hospital on a stretcher as roads in the area remain buried under three to four feet snow. On the way to the hospital, she gave birth to a baby, reports added.

Scores of villages in the upper reaches of north and south Kashmir have been cut off from the district headquarters, badly affecting the movement of patients. To add to the woes of people living in remote areas, the Met office has warned them not to venture out during the snowfall as there was danger of snow avalanches.