At least, 16 Army soldiers have been killed and three others are reported trapped as two avalanches swept their camps at Dawar in Gurez valley close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s northern district of Bandipore and at Sonamarg, a meadow frequented by tourists in summer. Thirteen soldiers have been rescued, some of them in injured condition.
The Army authorities have sent their para-troopers on foot and skies to join the rescue operations as repeated attempts to airlift them failed due to hostile weather conditions.
Officials in Srinagar said that the 109 Infantry Brigade camp situated near the village of Dawar Markote tucked away in high mountains suffered extensive damage and was still partially buried under snow.
“Efforts are underway to rescue the trapped soldiers,” said Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, defence spokesperson here. He added that it was for the first time that the camp location has been hit by avalanche. The toll may go up as the chances of survival for those soldiers buried under snow at Dawar struck by the avalanche at 9.15 pm on Wednesday “are diminishing with each passing moment.”
Defence sources here said that about 25 vehicles and 17 barracks of the Army inside the Brigade workshop were damaged. Till afternoon, eleven bodies had been dug out from the heaps of snow. The rescuers from the Army, police and civil authorities also removed five injured soldiers to Dawar’s sub-district hospital, the sources said. “The area is receiving heavy snowfall hampering the relief and rescue operation,” a state government spokesperson said. At Sonamarg, an avalanche struck several barracks of an Army camp killing three jawans of 162 Territorial Army.
Officials confirmed that here too the camp has suffered extensive damage. Also, weapons and other equipment with the jawans have either been damaged or are buried under snow at Dawar.