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Updated: Feb 21, 2019 00:51 IST

One Army jawan died and five others are trapped under the snow after a massive avalanche hit the Shipka La sector of Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district. Sixteen jawans had gone towards the Shipki La border post from Namagya to repair a damaged water supply line when the avalanche hit them, burying six of them alive. One of them was rescued, but he later died.

A team of about 150 persons, including Army and ITBP personnel, is searching for the trapped jawans, along with the police. The search was called off for the night and will resume Thursday morning. An Army spokesperson said the search-and-rescue operation would go on till the last man was retrieved.

The avalanche occurred at around 11 am near the Shipki La border post.

Kinnaur deputy commissioner Gopal Chand said the body of one Army jawan had been recovered but the other five were still missing.

The jawan was identified as Rakesh Kumar, 41, of Ghumarpur village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, Kinnaur Superintendent of Police (SP) Sakshi Verma told PTI, adding that the jawans belonged to the 7 JAK Rifles unit of the Army.

The avalanche was triggered by fierce snow blizzards in the area. Shipki La is at a height of around 12,000 feet and is located around 300 km from state capital Shimla.