10 soldiers die in Jammu and Kashmir avalanches

Srinagar: Avalanches have buried ten more Army jawans in Jammu and Kashmir. Half a dozen others have gone missing after being swept by avalanches in 2,580-metre-high Gurez area close to the Line of Control (LoC) in the state’s Bandipore district since Wednesday evening, official here said.

However, seven soldiers including a junior commissioned officer were saved during a rescue operation launched soon after the incidents in the area, officials said.

Officials in Srinagar added that the bodies of all ten soldiers have been found after two avalanches hit Gurez since Wednesday evening. However, a defence spokesman here said that only seven bodies had been retrieved till 12 pm on Thursday.

A statement issued by the police here said that all ten soldiers who died after their camp was hit by an avalanche belonged to the Army’s 51 Rashtriya Rifles. It added that the camp is located at Manzgund in Neeru valley of Gurez. Rescue operations were going on when reports last came in, the police said.

Earlier, an Army officer Major Amit Sagar was killed and five civilians including four members of a family died in similar incidents in the Valley on Wednesday. Three more people including an 11-year-old girl have been killed in house collapses and other weather-related incidents during the past two days, officials said. Sources in the Army said that half a dozen soldiers who were trapped following an avalanche which struck a 115 territorial Army camp in Sonamarg area, about 100 km north of Srinagar, on Wednesday are being treated in a military hospital and that their conditional is stable. Major Sagar had died on the spot in this incident.

The police said 40-year-old Ali Muhammad Nadaf was electrocuted to death at his home in Rahipora village of Palhallan area of northwestern Baramulla district on Thursday. In a separate incident, 11-year-old girl Aamina Javed died after a live power transmission wire fell on her in Plan area of northern Bandipore district.

On Wednesday, an avalanche had struck at Badugam in Tulail area of Gurez and buried the house of Habibullah Lone. The house collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in the death of 55-year-old Lone, his wife Azizi (50), son Irfan (22) and daughter Gulshan (19). Lone’s another son, Reyaz Ahmad, was rescued by the authorities and admitted to a hospital. At Kralpora in frontier Kupwara, a house collapsed trapping two persons under the debris for more than forty minutes. One of them Abdul Gani Ganai who was earlier seen by neighbours clearing snow from its roof was found dead under the debris by the rescuers, the officials said.

The police said 29 structures were damaged due to heavy snowfall in Budgam and Ganderbal districts during past 24 hours. The scenic Valley and neighbouring areas have been receiving heavy snowfall for the past few days disrupting normal life in many parts whereas several roads including Srinagar-Jammu highway have been shut mainly due to accumulation of snow and landslides. Power supply to many areas has been snapped too. The authorities have issued avalanche warning for higher reaches of the state, advising people not to venture into these areas.

Surface and air links between Kashmir and rest of the country remained cut off on the third day running on Thursday due to snowfall in the Valley as the 294-km Srinagar-Jammu National Highway is closed for traffic and all flights to Srinagar Airport were cancelled.