Avalanche hits army partol party, 1 jawan injured, 1 missing

An Army jawan today went missing while another was injured after an avalanche struck a patrol party in Siachen sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The patrol party came under the avalanche at Turtuk area of Siachen, the highest battleground in the world, around 8 AM following which two of the jawans got buried in the snow.

"At about 0800 hours, an army patrol in Turtuk area of Ladakh was hit by an avalanche in which two soldiers were buried under the snow," Defence Spokesperson said.

"Immediate rescue drills resulted in one soldier being rescued while the second soldier is still missing," he said.

The condition of the rescued soldier is "critical", the spokesman said, adding that he was evacuated to the nearest military hospital.

All efforts are being made to rescue the missing soldier, he said.