Avalanche buries army post in Kargil; 2 soldiers rescued, 3 still missing

A massive avalanche has swept away a high altitude army post burying five soldiers under huge mounds of snow in the Batallik sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in the cold desert of Kargil on Thursday. Two of the soldiers were rescued by the Specialised Avalanche Rescue Teams (ARTs), but three others are still missing.

Colonel Rajesh Kalia, Defence Spokesman at Srinagar told DNA that unprecedented snowfall has triggered multiple avalanches (in the state). “A post in Batalik sector was buried. Two out of five soldiers were rescued,” he said.

“Rescue operation to locate the three missing soldiers is in progress. Specially trained and equipped ARTs have been pressed into service,” said Colonel Kalia.

The avalanche has hit the army post a day after Additional Commissioner Kashmir issued an advisory cautioning of possible landslides and avalanches at vulnerable areas of Srinagar-Jammu and Srinagar-Leh highways on April 5 and 6.

Divisional administration in Kashmir issued a fresh avalanche warning for next 24 hours in hilly and avalanche-prone areas of Kashmir Valley and Kargil district on Thursday.

All concerned deputy commissioners have been asked to take precautionary measures and advise people not to venture in the avalanche-prone areas and monitor the situation regularly to avert any untoward incident.

Located at an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 metres, Batalik sector was one of the key theatres of Kargil war in 1999.  Despite the area witnessing heavy snowfall during winters, troops man the posts and patrol the area.