Death toll in J&K avalanche up to 3; 2 still missing

The death toll in the avalanche along the Line of Control in the Gurez sector of North Kashmir has gone up to three after Army rescuers pulled out two more bodies on Tuesday.

Lance Naik Marigendra Nath Pramanik and Sepoy Shiv Singh were part of the three-member team when an avalanche swept away their high-altitude post last week. Two soldiers are still missing.

"Two bodies have been recovered from Gurez. Earlier, the body of another soldier was retrieved from the Naugam sector. However, two soldiers continue to remain missing," said Colonel Rajesh Kalia, defence spokesman at Srinagar.

Last Tuesday, a massive avalanche swept away the army bunkers at two different places. The first incident occurred at Kanzalwan sub-sector of Gurez in the LoC when an avalanche hit the `Mani Post' in Bagtoor area. Three army jawans manning the post were swept away and are still untraceable. The second incident occurred in the Naugam sector along the LoC, when two soldiers were taken in by a snow slide.

For the last seven days, army rescuers have mounted a mammoth search and rescue operation to locate the five missing soldiers. Indian army has also pressed Specialized Avalanche Rescue Teams (ARTs) into service and moved special equipment to the site to trace out the missing soldiers.

Rescue ops

Indian army has mounted mammoth search; aalso pressed Specialized Avalanche Rescue Teams (ARTs) into service and moved special equipment to the site to trace the missing soldiers