Seven army troops killed in avalanche, eight rescued
April 14th, 2009 - 6:07 pm ICT by IANSSrinagar, April 14 (IANS) Seven army troops were killed when an avalanche buried an army post in the Shamsbari mountain range of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district Tuesday, an army official said. Eight other were rescued safely.
Spokesman of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt. Col. J.S. Brar told IANS here that an avalanche struck a counter insurgency (CI) post of the army in the Shamsbari mountain range Tuesday morning burying alive 15 soldiers.
“The troops were manning the CI post, when an avalanche struck it this morning. Rescue and relief operation was immediately launched and eight soldiers were safely rescued,” he said.
Bodies of the seven soldiers buried under the snow were also recovered by the rescue teams.
Kupwara district is 110 km from Srinagar.
The northern higher reaches of the valley experienced fresh heavy snowfall last week causing wintry conditions and leading to fresh avalanches.
Several people are killed every year in the avalanche prone areas of north and south Kashmir.
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Tags: april 14, army official, army post, army troops, avalanche, brar, counter insurgency, heavy snowfall, kashmir, kupwara district, lt, north kashmir, prone areas, reaches, south kashmir, spokesman, tuesday morning, wintry conditions