In a tragic development, two army personnel were killed in the southern Siachen Glacier region after an army patrol party at an altitude of 18,000 feet was hit by an avalanche during the wee hours of Saturday.
Immediately after the incident, members of the Avalanche Rescue Team rushed to the spot and engaged in an operation to rescue the personnel trapped under a thick layer of snow. A rescue chopper was also deployed in the region to spot further causes of threat.
Despite all attempts, though, two army personnel succumbed to their injuries inside the avalanche. The rest of the patrol party was however rescued in the operation and airlifted by helicopters to the Army Base Camp for treatment.
Earlier on November 19, at least four soldiers were martyred and two civilian porters lost their lives after an avalanche hit an eight-member team of Indian Army in northern Siachen Glacier.
During that incident, the Army team was on a patrol when the avalanche hit them at an altitude of 19,000 feet around 3:30 PM.
The Army had said that all eight personnel were pulled out of the avalanche debris and seven of them who were critically injured were evacuated by helicopters to the nearest Military Hospital, however, four soldiers and two civilian porters had not survived due to extreme hypothermia.
