Five rescued soldiers succumb

The soldiers remained trapped under snow for several hours on January 28, 2016, after the snow pathway leading to their picket near Machil Sector caved in. Representational picture.

Five soldiers, who were rescued after a snow sheath caved in on them in Kupwara’s Macchil sector, died of their wounds on Monday.

A Srinagar-based Army spokesman said they were shifted from Kupwara to an Army hospital in Srinagar “despite persistent poor weather conditions” for specialist medical care, but this did not help save their lives.

 

It was on January 28 that the five were trapped under snow for several hours after the pathway leading to their picket caved in.

It took one hour for the rescue team to pull them out of the snow sheath.

Since then they were being treated locally as they could not be airlifted by copters due to the inclement weather. Meanwhile, the bodies of 14 soldiers killed in twin avalanches in Bandipora’s Gurez sector, were flown in here. “The bodies will be taken to their native places on Tuesday for last rites,” said the spokesman.

The soldiers died between January 25 and 26 in Bandipora’s Gurez valley. The bodies remained stuck in the valley due to fresh snowfall.

A total of 26 people, including 20 soldiers, have died in avalanches in the Kashmir Valley since January 25.