HP avalanche: Another soldier's body recovered, 4 still missing

The body of one of the five Army jawans, missing for a fortnight after an avalanche in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, was recovered on Saturday, an official said.

Rajesh Rishi (25) and five other jawans of the 7 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles were buried under the avalanche at Shipki La near the China-India border on February 20.

Rishi's body has been recovered in the morning. His body was sent Solan town in the evening after an autopsy, Kinnaur Superintendent of Police Sakshi Verma said.

The body will be taken to his native village, Jagatpur, in Nalagarh area of Solan district on Sunday, the officer said.

Rishi's last rites will be performed with full military honours on Sunday, official sources said.

He got married last December and rejoined his duties on January 28, the sources added.

The body of another jawan, Havaldar Rakesh Kumar, was recovered on the day of the avalanche. About 500 personnel are carrying out the operation to search the four other trapped soldiers on Saturday.

Lt Gen. P M Bali, the chief of staff of the Western Command that is closely monitoring the rescue operations, had visited the site a few days ago and assured that all efforts were underway to find the missing soldiers.