Thirty-three soldiers including three JCOs, deployed along the Line of Control, were washed away in flash floods in Ladakh region near Siachen on Friday and remain untraced, a senior Army officer said Sunday.
The Army has now sought the help of Pakistani authorities to rescue the 33 personnel of 15 Bihar infantry regiment as it fears that they may have been swept away towards Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the deluge, the officer said.
The jawans, who were manning a post near Turtok along the Line of Control, faced the fury of Shyok river on the same day when Leh was hit by a devastating cloudburst that left 145 people dead and over 500 missing.
Though the 33 soldiers, including three junior commissioned officers, were well-trained to negotiate the conditions, the Army has not been able to trace them even 48 hours after the incident, the officer said.
“The soldiers are feared to have been swept away towards PoK and we have sought help from Pakistan to trace them,” the officer said.
