All 10 Siachen soldiers dead

Tribune News Service

Jammu/New Delhi, February 4

All 10 soldiers missing in an avalanche that hit an Army post, located at an altitude of 19,600 feet at the Siachen Glacier, have died.

"Demise of soldiers in Siachen is very tragic. I salute the brave soldiers who gave their lives to the nation. Condolences to their families," Prime Minister Narendra said, confirming the fears about their fate. 

“It is with deepest of regrets that we have to state that the chances of finding any survivors are now very remote,” Northern Command spokesp-erson Col SD Goswami said.

With the temperatures in the glaciated area ranging between minus 25 degrees during the day and minus 42 degrees in the night, the rescue teams were braving adverse weather conditions and rarefied atmosphere to locate the survivors, he said.

A ‘wall of ice’ buried the post, a stone bunker bang on the actual ground position line (AGPL), a 109 km-long divide between India and Pakistan, on Wednesday.