The fate of the 11 soldiers and eight porters, who went missing after they were hit by a snow avalanche, continues to hang in balance.
SRINAGAR: The fate of the 11 soldiers and eight porters, who went missing after they were hit by a snow avalanche, continues to hang in balance as bad weather and fresh avalanches are hampering rescue efforts in Bijhama on the LoC in Uri sector.
Five soldiers of the 9 Martha Light Infantry, including a junior commissioned officer, and eight porters went missing on Wednesday evening when they were going from one post to another in Bijhama village. Bodies of two soldiers were recovered early on Thursday.
Two army jawans were buried alive on Wednesday when their post was swept away by a snow avalanche in Machil sector at the LoC in Kupwara. Another soldier is reported missing from the same sector since Thursday morning.
Col Manjindar Singh said bad weather is hampering rescue efforts in Uri as there is a constant threat of further avalanches. “We have launched a major rescue mission in the area but the weather is very bad. We are not able to move at a desired pace because of heavy snow. There were seven avalanches in Uri on Thursday,” he said.
“Fifteen men went missing after they were hit by an avalanche on Wednesday evening. We were able to save two of them last night. We also recovered bodies of two missing soldiers,” said Lt Col AK Mathur, the defence spokesman in Srinagar.
Earlier, the army retrieved the bodies of two soldiers of the 177 field unit after their post was swept away by a snow avalanche at a high-altitude area in Machil sector of LoC.
“There has been heavy snowfall in the area for the last few days. In the intervening night a snow avalanche hit our post killing two soldiers,” Mathur said, adding, “We have announced Rs50,000 in compensation for the missing porters.”
h_ishfaq@dnaindia.net
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