Srinagar: The bodies of three persons were recovered Friday while search operation to trace other nine missing persons is on after an avalanche hit Khardung La pass in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh this morning, officials said.

Rescuers from the district administration, police and the State Disaster Relief Force are at the site, which is 40 km from Leh town. Reports said that a Scorpio vehicle was hit by a giant wall of snow.

Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing heavy snowfall in the past few days. The Met department on Thursday issued an avalanche warning for nine districts of Jammu and Kashmir— Anantnag, Budgam, Baramulla, , Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil, Kulgam, Kupwara and Leh.

Divisional administration had warned people not to move around in avalanche prone areas, store enough edibles and other essentials as both surface and air connectivity is likely to remain disrupted during this period.

The weather office has forecast another spell of snow from January 19 to 23 in Kashmir due to heavy precipitation.The MeT department has asked people to plan their travel accordingly.