In the face of inclement weather, the Army’s rescue team on Saturday saved five of its soldiers trapped under snow near a post on the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
Army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia told The Hindu that a patrol party of five men fell into a snow crevice when it was on its way to the picket in the frontier district’s Macchil area, a hotbed of militancy and a known route of infiltrators from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The incident took place at around 10 a.m. when two patrols were heading to the snow-bound pickets. The area witnessed snowfall on Saturday too, making it difficult for the rescue team.
With more than 8 ft of accumulated snow, the traditional narrow pathways were overtaken by snow sheaths. The soldiers apparently were trudging on solid blankets of snow, which is hardened by freezing temperatures that go down to minus 20 degrees.
Sources said the soldiers fell in a crevice when the path caved in, burying all of them.
A well-equipped local Army team, with high-end gadgets, rushed to the area and carried out operation to locate the trapped soldiers.
Fresh warnings
The administration has warned of medium danger avalanche possible in next 24 hours in hilly and avalanche-prone areas of Kashmir Valley and Kargil district.
