Six soldiers killed, many missing after avalanche hits army camp in Kashmir

Mangalore Today News Network

Srinagar, Jan 26, 2017: At least six soldiers are feared killed and many more are missing after separate avalanches hit an army camp and a patrol team in north Kashmir’s Bandipora, officials said on Thursday, the latest casualties in the Valley swamped by heavy snowfall.

The twin incidents came barely few hours after an Army major was killed Ganderbal district, also in an avalanche.

An army spokesperson said six bodies have been recovered since an avalanche struck the camp in the Gurez sector on Wednesday night and a patrol team was buried under a separate avalanche earlier.

Rescue operations were launched immediately despite extreme weather conditions.

“The search operations help us rescue one JCO (junior commissioned officer) and six soldiers while the bodies of three soldiers could only be retrieved today (Thursday) morning,” he said, giving details about the incident at the camp.

The spokesperson said in the incident involving the patrol team too, only three bodies have been recovered. The area is close to the Line of Control (LoC) that serevs as the de-facto border with Pakistan.

“Braving inhospitable weather conditions, coordinated rescue operations are in progress in which three bodies could be recovered so far. Search operations continue,” the spokesperson added.

The Army did not specify the number of missing soldiers.

Police said, 150 persons were evacuated on Wednesday from avalanche-prone Khadiyall and Ismarg villages of Gurez to safer areas.

Since the start of heavy snowfall on Tuesday, at least seven civilians have also died in Kashmir valley.

Four members of a family died on Wednesday after their house collapsed due to heavy snowfall in the same district. The fifth member of the family, an 18-year-old, was rescued from under the debris.

Three more persons, including a labourer, died due to a roof collapse and cold, also on Wednesday, police said.

Besides militancy, weather has been a major adversary of armed forces in Kashmir.

A third of the total army fatalities in Kashmir valley between January 2007 and March 2012 were due to avalanches.

At least 242 soldiers were killed in the Valley between 2007 and 2012, and out of these 62 were killed in different natural calamities, official records show.

On February 3 last year, ten soldiers were killed after an avalanche hit Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest and coldest battlefield.

Kashmir has been witnessing one of the severest winters in recent decades, with heavy snow across the territory and temperature dropping to minus seven degrees Celsius.

Meteorologists have forecast more heavy snow across the territory over the next three days.

Authorities had already issued avalanche warnings, advising residents in mountainous areas not to venture out.

Police last week evacuated 80 villagers from Waltengoo Nar -- where dozens were killed after a series of avalanches hit the area in 2005 -- in the south of the territory.