Four soldiers, two porters killed in Siachen avalanche

JAMMU: In a heart-wrenching incident, four Indian Army personnel and two civilian porters were killed after they were hit by an avalanche in northern part of the Siachen Glacier on Monday afternoon.

Another injured personnel is undergoing treatment at military hospital where his condition is stated to be critical.

“Four soldiers and two civilian porters died after they were trapped in an avalanche on the Siachen Glacier's northern sector on Monday,” officials said.

They said that a group of eight persons, including six Army personnel, were struck by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,000 ft around 3 pm on Monday.

The Avalanche Rescue Teams from nearby posts were rushed to the location to pull the soldiers out to the snow after the incident.

"All eight personnel were pulled out of the avalanche debris. Seven individuals were critically injured in the incident," Srinagar-based Defence Spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said.

“The seven personnel, accompanied by medical teams providing critical care were evacuated by helicopters to nearest Military Hospital, where all life saving resuscitative measures were instituted,” Colonel Kalia said.

“Despite best efforts, six persons -- four soldiers and two civilian porters -- succumbed to extreme hypothermia,” he said.

Unconfirmed reports claimed several Indian forward positions were also hit by the avalanche.

"The soldiers were part of a patrol. They had been trapped at a height of between 18,000 and 19,000 feet above sea level after they were hit by a snow avalanche," a senior Army officer earlier said.

The Siachen Glacier at the height of around 20,000 ft in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds.

Avalanches and landslides are common at the glacier during the winters and temperatures can drop to as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.

In a similar unfortunate incident as today’s, 10 jawans were buried in an avalanche in Siachen in February 2016. Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, who was rescued after being buried in snow for six days, later passed away at a hospital in Delhi.

Both India and Pakistan have deployed soldiers on Siachen. It is said that more soldiers have died from the inhospitable conditions than in combat.

In 2012, Islamabad declared that 129 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians were killed in a massive avalanche in Gayari sector near the Siachen glacier.
On a visit to Ladakh last month, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had announced the reopening of the glacier for tourists.