4 soldiers killed in Ladakh avalanche; snowfall in Valley

Four soldiers of 3 Ladakh Scouts died when their patrol party was hit by a massive avalanche in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said on Monday.

“Four jawans of 3 Ladakh Scouts were killed when their patrol party was hit by a snow avalanche at the Southern Glacier in Ladkah at 4:30 pm on Sunday”, Udhampur based defence spokesperson Col S.D. Goswami told PTI.

Soon after the avalanche, a rescue operation was launched but the lives of four soldiers could not be saved.

The bodies of four soldiers were retrieved from the avalanche site and were sent for post-mortem at Hundar Hospital, Col. Goswami said.

The four deceased have been identified as Havaldar Tsewang Nurbu, Havaldar Dorjay Gyaltsan, Rifleman Mohammad Yousuf and Rifleman Jigmaid Chosdup.

He said the mortal remains of the soldiers would be handed over to their next of kins after conducting all the medical formalities.

Meanwhile, Srinagar city on Monday witnessed the season’s first major snowfall along with the rest of Kashmir, bringing respite from the prevailing chill as the mercury settled above the freezing point in most places of the valley for the first time in the last fortnight.

The plains of the valley also received light snowfall accompanied by rains with Srinagar experiencing the first major snowfall of the season, according to a MeT department official.

The snowfall in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir began in the morning and it received 2.8 mm of rainfall during the night, the official said, adding the minimum temperature here went up by nearly five degrees to settle above the freezing point at 2.2 C.