Kinnaur avalanche: No trace of five missing armymen

SHIMLA: Rescuers on Friday could not trace the five jawans of army’s 7 JAK Rifles, trapped in the snow avalanche near Namgia Dogri outpost along Sino-india border in Kinnaur district, owing to inclement weather.

Teams of army, ITBP and Himachal were police deployed but the search operation could not begin in full capacity as fog had engulfed the area and the weather was windy, additional district magistrate, Pooh, Shiv Mohan said.

“The avalanche is very big. It may take a few more days to search the area. The operation will continue till the last man is found,” he said.

Meanwhile, the body of Rakesh Kumar, who was killed in the avalanche on Wednesday morning, was flown to his native village Ghumarpur in Bilaspur district.

Kumar was rescued by Indotibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel but succumbed to his injuries on his way to the hospital.

The avalanche was triggered when the glacier near Namgia Dogri slid, burying the soldiers, who were part of the 16-member patrolling team of army and ITBP.

Ten men escaped but the rest were trapped in the mound of snow. One of them, identified as havaldar Rakesh Kumar from Bilaspur, was rescued but he succumbed to his injuries in the civil hospital in Pooh.

Those who went missing are naik Videsh Chand, rifleman Govind Bahadur Chatri, rifleman Rajesh Rishi, rifleman Arjun Kumar and rifleman Nitin Rana.