Bodies of 17 soldiers killed by snow avalanche recovered
merisarkar news service
New Delhi, February 08, 2010
Army said in a statement that the bodies of 16 soldiers and a Leftinent have been recovered from the sonw and now no one is missing.
These soldiers were swept away by the avalanche when they were setting up a camp near the army’s high altitude warfare training school in Khilanmarg.
The school is located near famous ski resort Gulmarg, some 70 kilometers from the state capital Srinagar.
Except these sixteen soldiers and a Leftinent all the other people were rescued by the authorities. However, the condition of an equal number of people is still critical because of the multiple bone fractures they have received.
Authorities decided to call off the rescue operation on Monday evening.
These soldiers were part of a group of 350 soldiers, specially selected for high altitude war training.
Gulmarg and its surrounding areas have been receiving unprecedented snowfall for the past two days with reports of six-feet of snow in certain areas.
These soldiers have left the base at eight in the morning and reached 8 kilometer uphill to Khilanmarg and were setting up their base at the height of ten thousand feet when the avalanche hit them.
