5 jawans missing since last week's avalanche in Himachal Pradesh still untraceable

Five Army jawans missing since Wednesday's avalanche near Shipki La along the India-China border in Himachal Pradesh still remain untraced, officials said Monday.

Six jawans of the Army's 7 JAK Rifles -- four from Himachal Pradesh, one each from Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir -- were buried under the avalanche that occurred near the Shipki La border outpost in Kinnaur district around 11 am on Wednesday.

The body of Havaldar Rakesh Kumar was recovered the same day, while the others are still missing.

An operation to trace the personnel was underway, a district official said.

The weather is clear in Pooh town but it is cloudy near the spot of the incident, Kinnaur district public relations officer Mamta Negi said, adding that the rescue operation was restarted at 7 am on Monday.

The search and rescue operation is being closely monitored by the Western Command of the Army, a defence spokesperson said.

The last rites of Havaldar Rakesh Kumar were performed with full military honours at his native Ghumarpur village in Bilaspur district on Friday.