Rahul Gandhi expresses grief over soldiers' death in Siachen avalanche

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed grief over death of all the ten soldiers who were hit by a massive avalanche at Siachen yesterday.

"Very sad to know that 10 of our brave soldiers lost their lives in an avalanche in Siachen," Gandhi said in a tweet.

"My thoughts &prayers are with their families," he added.

Amid massive operation undertaken by the armed forces to rescue soldiers trapped under snow due to yesterday's avalanche near Siachen Glacier in Ladakh, the Defence Ministry today said that chances of finding any survivors are.

Specialized teams of the Army and the Air Force have been deployed to carry out the search and rescue operations in the area, where temperatures range from minus 42 degrees in the night to minus 25 degrees during the day.

The avalanche struck an Indian Army post in the Northern Siachen Glacierat a height of 19,600 feet.

The army post that faced its brunt was manned by one junior commissioned officer (JCO) and nine soldiers. All ten soldiers have gone missing after the avalanche.