Officer dead as avalanche hits army unit in Kashmir’s Ganderbal

Mangalore Today News Network

Kashmir, Jan 25, 2017 : An officer died after an army unit was hit by an avalanche in northern Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Wednesday, authorities said.

 

Army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia said the army major was killed after the avalanche struck a unit of the Territorial Army stationed in Sonmarg.

Kalia said others have been rescued. “Nobody is missing now,” Kalia said.

“The unit is stationed in the area for the past some years,” said Imtiyaz Parray, Ganderbal superintendent of police.

With heavy snowfall continuing in northern Kashmir, four members of a family died in a house collapse in Bandipora early on Wednesday.

Besides militancy, weather has always been a major adversary of the armed forces in Kashmir.

At least 242 soldiers were killed in the Valley between January 2007 and March 2012. Of them, 180 lost their lives fighting militants. The rest were consumed by natural calamities, mostly snow deluges.

On February 03, 2016, ten army soldiers died after an avalanche hit Kashmir’s Siachen Glacier, the highest and coldest battlefield of the World.

Courtesy: HT