Wajahat Shabir
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 4: Four army soldiers were killed in a separate incident after being hit by an avalanche in two separate areas in Tanghdar sector and in Gurez sector, army said. In last three weeks, three incidents have taken place where 10 army personnel and two civilian porters were killed.
Srinagar based army spokesperson said, "In two separate incidents, an avalanche hit a post in Tanghdar sector and Army petrol was hit by a blizzard in Gurez sector. The rescue team managed to locate and retrieve all personnel from both incidents".
He added,"Despite best efforts by the rescue and medical team three Army personnel in Tangdhar Sector and one Army personnel in Gurez Sector succumbed".
While as last week, two Indian Army soldiers were killed after an Avalanche Rescue Team (ART) was hit by an avalanche in southern part of the Siachen Glacier on early hours of Saturday morning last week, army said.
An army defense spokesperson said, "An Avalanche Rescue Team (ART) following the patrol immediately rushed and managed to locate and pull out all members of the patrol. Simultaneously, Army helicopters were pressed into service to evacuate the avalanche victims".
He added that an Army patrol operating at an altitude of approximately 18,000 feet in Southern Siachen Glacier was hit by an avalanche during the early hours of 30 November. Adding that he said, "However, despite best efforts by the medical teams, two Army personnel succumbed in the avalanche".
Today's incident at Siachen Glacier is the second incident in last two weeks.
Earlier, four Indian Army soldiers and two civilian porters were killed after they were hit by an avalanche in northern part of the Siachen Glacier on 18th November.
A group of eight persons, including six Army personnel, were struck by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,000 ft around 3 pm on 18th November. Two Army personnel survived the avalanche. Rescue teams from nearby posts were rushed to the location after the incident, an Army spokesperson had said.
"All eight personnel were pulled out of the avalanche debris. Seven individuals were critically injured in the incident," Despite best efforts, four soldiers and two civilian porter's succumbed to extreme hypothermia, the official had said.
The Siachen Glacier at the height of around 20,000 ft in the Karakoram Range is known as the highest militarized zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds. Avalanches and landslides are common at the glacier during the winters and temperatures can drop to as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius. |
