21 army men dead as avalanche hits army camp in Kashmir, more in Afpak

Update 12 Feb 2010: 185 dead in Afghanistan. Key tunnel remains closed.

Update 11 Feb 2010: 8 Pakistani soldiers killed in avalanche.

Update 11 Feb 2010: 3 more soldier were killed taking the total to 21. Canandian newspaper says that more people have been killed in Siachen due to cold weather than due to war. 

Update 10 Feb 2010: Indian Express reports that the Snow Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) had warned the Army and it’s High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) but these were ignored. Hindustan Times reports that the Army has initiated a probe and AFP reports that fresh snows have caused another avalanche killing another soldier bringing the total number of army deaths to 18.

Update 10 Feb 2010 VOA reports 17 people have been killed. 

09 Feb 2010 8ak:  As many as 13 army personnel, including an officer, were killed and 15 seriously injured in Baramulla district of Kashmir on Monday when an avalanche hit army’s high altitude warfare training camp. An army spokesman, Lt Colonel J S Brar, said scores more were still missing and 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. The rescue work is on in full swing to evacuate the injured and search for survivors under the debris. In the meantime, the injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment. 

Comments

[Vijay]

heart breaking news, this.

Just goes to show how trecherous that terrain is and how difficult the training is of our armed forces.

But, could this have been avoided by using the avalanche prevention system over those slopes or by calling off the training when the whether was bad?

[Jason Verdugo]

My heart goes out to the Indian troops and their families.

[Vijaykumarsinha]

Well, thanks to Pakis the posts that were supposed to be vacated in winter now need to be occupied. Now, both they and us can have some fun up there in winter months.

But, the difference between us and them is that we can take a loss while they will have to pawn their a$$ a bit more to US (while stabing them in the back at the same time)