Avalanche hits army post in J&K, 3 troops buried under debris

Five Army soldiers were buried under an avalanche in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, two were rescued but the other three are still trapped under the debris, officials said.

The Indian Army's Udhampur headquartered Northern Command said: "Unprecedented snowfall triggered multiple avalanches, a post in Batalik sector buried, two out of five rescued, rescue operation in progress."

"Army has deployed specially trained and well equipped Avalanche Rescue Teams to rescue the remaining three soldiers," he said.

This year, in January, at least 15 soldiers were killed after two avalanches hit a military post and a patrol along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Between 2014 and 2016, 58 soldiers died in natural calamities.

--IANS

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