5 jawans in J&K get trapped after snow-clad track collapses, rescued

NEW DELHI: Five Army jawans who were trapped under snow after a track collapsed on Saturday at the Machhil sector in J&K's Kupwara district have been rescued. Army spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said they are all undergoing treatment.

This is the third consecutive snowfall and avalanche-related mishap in the Valley. In the last three days, one Army Major and 14 jawans have lost their lives in such accidents, making it the highest number of such casualties the Army has suffered in the last one year.

While Major Amit Sagar of High Altitude Warfare School died after an avalanche hit an Army camp in Sonmarg on Wednesday , 14 jawans got buried under snow in Gurez sector near Line of Control in north Kashmir's Bandipora district a day after.
"The weather here is so bad that we can't transport the mortal remains of the 14 jawans who got buried under snow in Gurez sector. We are awaiting for weather to normalise to fly the bodies to Srinagar," Col Kalia said.

On February 3 last year, 10 soldiers of Madras Regiment were buried under snow after their camp in the northern part of the Siachen glacier was hit by an avalanche.



In view of fresh snowfall in Kahmir, local authorities have issued an avalanche alert in the snow-clad hilly regions. Inclement weather has claimed as many as 21lives in the Valley since Wednesday .

The Met office said another spell of moderate snowfall will occur on January 30 and 31. It also said that an active western disturbance from February 3 will cause heavy snowfall in the Valley on February 4 and 5.

Condoling the death of two soldiers hailing from the state, Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to each of their families.