3 soldiers killed in Machil avalanche

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 2

Three soldiers were killed and another injured when an avalanche hit an Army post in Machil sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday afternoon. Sources said the avalanche struck the post of 21 Rajput in the Sonapindi Gali area along the Line of Control (LoC). The authorities had issued a medium avalanche warning earlier this week.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

“Four soldiers went missing after the avalanche, triggering a rescue operation in the area by a quick reaction team. The rescuers retrieved the soldiers, who were still breathing. However, one of them died immediately and two others succumbed to their injuries on way to a medical facility,” a defence source said. The deceased, all from Rajasthan, are Havildar Kamlesh Singh (Jhunjhunu), Naik Balveer (Bharatpur) and Sepoy Rajinder (Alwar).

This is the second major avalanche-linked tragedy the Army has suffered in north Kashmir in two months. On December 12, five soldiers were killed when two avalanches hit the LoC in Bandipora and Kupwara. In the first week of January, 11 persons, including a BRO officer, died in two avalanches in Tangdhar area of Kupwara.