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| Avalanche kills 13 Armymen in Kashmir
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Srinagar, Feb 8/--/ In one of the most tragic incidents, 13 army personnel, including an officer, were on Monday killed and 15 seriously injured when a group of about 350 men were swept away by a snow avalanche while setting up a winter warfare camp at Khilanmarg, 70 kms from here.
An army spokesman, Colonel J S Brar, said that scores more were still missing as rescuers were searching for them in deep snow. Seventy personnel have been rescued, he said.
The dead included an officer, Lt Prateek, and twelve other ranks from the Army's prestigious High Altitude Warfare School, he said.
Some of those seriously injured are in a critical condition in a hospital in the scenic tourist spot of Gulmarg.
The group comprising nearly 350 personnel had set out at 0800 hours this morning from Gulmarg and reached Khilanmarg eight kms uphill at a height of over 10,000 feet to set up a winter warfare training camp when they were hit by an avalanche, Col Brar said.
Gulmarg and its surrounding areas have been receiving unprecedented snowfall for the past two days with reports of six-feet of snow in certain areas.
Snow Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) had issued an avalanche warning last evening and advised people living in high altitude areas not to venture out as the area was getting heavy snowfall.
"Avalanche warning exists in the high altitude areas for the next 24 hours. People living in the areas are cautioned to avoid movement during snowfall and not to venture out in avalanche prone areas," SASE said.
Areas where high danger avalanche warning exists included Sonamarg, Gagangir, Bhimbat, Drass, Batalic, Dhudi and S M Hills in Kargil district.
Medium danger of avalanche warning exists in areas including Khilanmarg, Uri, Baaz, Razdan Top, Z-Gali, Keran, Furkian top, Machil, Sadna Top, Urez, Niru, Baruab and Chowkibal in Kupwara and Baramulla districts of North Kashmir.
Areas with low danger avalanche warning include both sides of Jawahar Tunnel, the gateway to Kashmir, and its adjoining areas on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.(PTI)
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