Officer, 16 soldiers killed in Kashmir avalanche (Fifth Lead)

SRINAGAR - At least 17 Indian Army soldiers, including an officer, were killed and 17 others injured Monday when a massive avalanche struck a high altitude warfare training camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, officials said.

A massive avalanche rolled down the mountain side in Khilanmarg area, 10,000 feet above sea level, when a group of soldiers was undergoing a high altitude survival course.

Lieutenant Prateek and 16 other soldiers were killed. At least 17 are injured. No one is missing. We evacuated over 40 soldiers during the operations, Lt. Colonel J.S. Brar, army spokesman, told IANS.

The rescue operations began at 11.05 a.m. and were declared completed around 6.30 p.m. We used various equipment including snow heating devices to detect presence of soldiers buried under the snow, he added.

A senior police official said: “The avalanche buried scores of trainees under it. Relief and rescue operation was started immediately by army and the local police assisted by the snow bikes and men from the state tourism department.”

He added that all other trainees in the group have already moved to safer places.

“Heavy snowfall in the area hampered rescue and relief operation at such a high altitude,” the officer added.

Heavy snowfall has been continuing in the higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley for the past three days and the disaster management cell, as well as the local weather office, had issued a warning against possible avalanches in the areas.

Officers and soldiers going for high altitude deployments are first trained and get acclimatized at the warfare school near Gulmarg.