Avalanche kills four soldiers in Indian-controlled Kashmir
At least four Indian soldiers have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir in an incident during which their vehicle was buried in an avalanche in the scenic Himalayan valley, local officials say.
The casualties came after a fatal avalanche struck Chang La village in the Leh district, which is located about 435 kilometers (270 miles) east of the region’s main city of Srinagar.
S. D. Goswami, a regional Indian army spokesman, said on Saturday that the soldiers were traveling in a convoy of three army vehicles, which was hit by the avalanche on Friday.
The military official also noted that rescuers have recovered the bodies of the three soldiers killed in the remote region.
“The bodies of three soldiers were recovered. Another is presumed to be dead and a search operation is on to find him,” media outlets quoted Goswami as saying.
Sources say a rescue team is digging through snow to find the body of the fourth soldier.
Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan.
On March 30, landslides buried 16 people in the west of the India-controlled Kashmir. The fatalities were caused in the area of Chadoora, the worst-hit area of the Himalayan region, where hundreds were killed in devastating floods last September.
The 2014 floods killed around 300 people, left thousands more homeless and destroyed property and infrastructure.
The Indian administration was accused of negligence and faced criticism for its response to the disaster, with many parts of the summer capital, Srinagar, still cut off days later.
Meanwhile, the administration has recently issued a flood alert as the River Jhelum is swelling to dangerously high levels.
JR/HJL/SS
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