Kinnaur avalanche: Rescue ops end on 23rd day

Shimla, Mar 14: With the recovery of bodies of two more jawans on the 23rd day, the operations to rescue six Army men trapped at an avalanche site ended on Thursday.

The rescue operation had started at avalanche site on February 20 at Namgya, Kinnaur. The bodies of four of the six missing Army personnel have already been recovered.

Six jawans of the Army's 7 JAK Rifles -- four from Himachal Pradesh, one each from Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir -- were trapped in the avalanche that occurred near Shipki La border outpost around 11 AM on February 20.

According to Army officials, 16 jawans were patrolling the Sino-India border area when the avalanche struck, burying six of them alive. One of them was rescued, but he succumbed to his injuries subsequently.

A spokesperson of the Army had said the search-and-rescue operation would go on till the last man was retrieved. A team of about 150 persons, including Army personnel, was searching for the trapped jawans, along with the police.

(With PTI inputs)