Dog stays by body for four days after teenagers die in Himalayan snowstorm

A loyal dog stayed by the bodies of its owners for days in the freezing Himalayas after they fell victim to a brutal cold snap, which has brought sudden and extreme snowfall and avalanches to northern India.

Footage of the scene, shared widely on social media this week, came from Bharmour in Himachal Pradesh where a pit bull was discovered standing beside the corpse buried in deep snow.

Authorities said Viksit Rana, 19, and his cousin Piyush Kumar, 14, went missing near the Bharmani temple in Bharmour after venturing out during severe weather to film videos. Both died after getting trapped in snow. When rescue workers and villagers reached them four days later, on 26 January, Piyush’s body was found buried under layers of snow, with the one-and-a-half-year-old dog still beside him. Rana’s body was subsequently located about 100 metres downhill.

“Viksit was a blogger fond of uploading videos and photographs of the hills featuring himself on social media. According to his family members and friends, before heading into the high-altitude area, he had arranged sleeping bags, a trekking tent that could accommodate at least two people, packaged food and other essentials. He had taken along his pet pit bull named Sherru,” Dinesh Kumar Sharma, assistant superintendent of police, told The Indian Express.

“Unfortunately, the snowstorm was extremely intense and the temperature dropped to between minus nine and minus 10 degrees Celsius. We found sleeping bags, a tent, and other belongings near the bodies,” he added. “The pit bull was found standing near Piyush’s body.”

Rescuers said the animal had neither moved nor eaten during that time, enduring snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures. When the crew attempted to recover the body, the dog initially became aggressive, appearing to guard it, before eventually stepping aside after being coaxed.

Sherru has since been reunited with Rana’s family.

Footage of the incident, both showing Sherru by a body in the snow and being led away, drew wide attention online, shared by millions of people who lauded the dog for its loyalty.

The Himalayan region is facing a spell of intense winter weather, triggering avalanches, road closures and rescue operations across multiple states.

An avalanche swept through a tourist resort in Sonamarg, in the far northern territory of Kashmir, on Tuesday, with CCTV footage showing snow engulfing several buildings. Authorities said there were no casualties, noting that avalanche warnings had already been issued for the area following heavy snowfall.

In the same region, rescue workers completed a 40-hour operation to evacuate around 60 people who were stranded at an altitude of 10,500ft after roads were blocked by snow.

High-altitude areas in neighbouring Uttarakhand were also put on alert after fresh snowfall heightened the risk of avalanches. The Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment, a government research foundation, warned of unstable snowy conditions across the districts of Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag, prompting school closures in some areas.

Authorities warned that further snowfall could worsen conditions in the coming days, particularly in high-altitude and avalanche-prone zones.