Avalanche hits J&K, 8 killed, 1 missing

Srinagar, Jan 14: Three soldiers killed, one missing and five other civilians were killed in separate incidents of the avalanche that hit the army post in Jammu and Kashmir's Machil sector on Tuesday.

The defence sources said three soldiers were killed and another was missing after an avalanche hit an Army post in Machil sector along the LoC on Tuesday. Five soldiers were trapped under the avalanche. Efforts are on to trace one missing soldier.

According to PTI, the Army launched rescue operations and traced four of the soldiers. While three of them were declared dead, another was injured and is being treated at a local military facility, the sources said.

Earlier, Indian Army Havildar Rajendra Singh Negi, who is a resident of Dehradun allegedly slipped in the snow at Gulmarg, Jammu, and Kashmir, during duty and reached Pakistan border.

In December another avalanche hit in the Tangdhar region of Jammu & Kashmir's Kupwara district.

Another avalanche struck a village in Gagangir area of Ganderbal district in which five civilians were killed while four others were rescued, police said. The avalanche struck on Monday night when the five civilians were passing by the area, they said. The bodies of the five have been recovered, as per PTI.