Himachal avalanche: No trace of 5 missing soldiers

Shimla :  Rescuers on Friday failed to carry out search operation owing to inclement weather near the Tibet border in Himachal Pradesh, where a snow avalanche killed a soldier while five others went missing earlier this week.

As the searches entered the third day, the authorities suspected that the possibility of survival of the five trapped in the snow pile was minimal.

“This morning the search operation could not begin due to overnight snowfall. Later in the day, nearly 200 people were deployed but they could not resume operation in full capacity,” a state government official told IANS.

He said the search mission, comprising Army men and district rescuers, largely remained suspended on Friday too due to continuous snow and avalanche warnings in the area.

An avalanche on Wednesday was triggered when the glacier near Namgia Dogri bordering Tibet slid, burying six soldiers of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles when 16 of them were on a routine patrol. Body of one soldier was found later.

Five Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP) troopers were also injured in the disaster.

The state government said two separate parties of the Army and the ITBP were patrolling at Namgia Dogri when the avalanche hit.

The soldier who died has been identified as Rakesh Kumar, 41, belonging to Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district.

His body was airlifted on Friday and sent to his native village.

The disaster spot, which is some 350 km from the state capital, has been witnessing heavy snowfall over the past few days.

 Published on: Feb 22, 2019 at 19:04 IST

IANS