Army deputes HAWS team to trace out missing soldiers
Srinagar: The army has intensified search operations on Wednesday to rescue the five soldiers, who went missing after a snow avalanche hit their camp near the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir.
A number of rescue teams are on the job to trace five soldiers who are missing after snowfall in the area, defence ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said.
According to the sources, the army has called HAWS (High Altitude Warfare School) rescue team to trace the three soldiers missing after an avalanche hit an army forward post in Bagtore area of Gurez on Sunday.
Two soldiers had also slipped down the slope in Naugam Sector.
The sources added that local army units were facing difficulties in rescue and search operation to trace out the missing soldiers due to heavy snowfall.
“To help the army to trace out missing soldiers, HAWS rescue team has been called in. Last night snow had stopped for a brief time, but it started again, thus hampering the rescue operation by the local army unit,” an army source said.
Meanwhile, in view of the heavy snowfall on upper reaches, the authorities have issued an avalanche warning for the border town of Gurez, where a porter died after falling from a mountaintop on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to Skymet Weather, avalanche threat looms large in Jammu and Kashmir at least for the next 48 hours.
Meteorological Department (MeT) Srinagar also said that there is no forecast of heavy snowfall in plains while moderate to heavy snowfall is likely to take place in upper mountainous regions.
Director MeT, Sonam Lotus said there will be rains with light spells of snowfall in the Valley’s plains in the next 24 hours. However, afterwards, the weather will remain dry. “It will be cloudy, but the weather will be dry.”
KV Correspondent
