33 Armymen feared swept away to PoK
Local residents help the Army search for bodies in the flood-damaged Choglamsar village, on the outskirts of Leh, on Sunday. PH
Rescuers found more bodies as they dug through trampled homes in Leh, engulfed by mudslides after Thursday night’s cloudburst, raising the toll to 150. Most of over 400 missing people are also feared dead, among whom are 33 Army soldiers believed to have been washed away in flash floods to PoK.
The soldiers, including three JCOs, of 15 Bihar Regiment, were deployed along the Line of Control near Siachen. The Army has sought the help of its Pakistani counterparts to trace them. The jawans were manning a forward military post near Turtuk, the last village on the LoC’s Indian side salvaged from the Pakistanis in the 1971 war. They are feared to have been swept by swollen waters of Shyok river the same night the cloudburst struck Leh. Earlier, two bodies of soldiers were found by rescuers near the riverbank.
Air Force planes on Sunday rushed relief material and vital BSNL equipment from New Delhi to restart communication links. With the Leh airport runway cleared on Saturday, special Air India, Jet and Kingfisher flights took stranded tourists from Leh to New Delhi, and more flights are expected to operate Monday. Army and BRO engineers are busy repairing bridges so that vital links, including the Srinagar-Leh and Manali-Leh roads, can be reopened by Monday evening.
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