india

Updated: Feb 22, 2019 17:00 IST

The Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Friday resumed their search for the five soldiers trapped after an avalanche on Wednesday near a post along the border with China in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district.

The soldiers of the 7th Jammu and Kashmir Rifles were a part of a 16-member patrolling party of the army and ITBP personnel which was hit the avalanche near Shipki La village on Wednesday morning. They had gone towards the Shipki La border post from Namagya on Wednesday to repair a damaged water supply line when the avalanche hit them around 11am.

Ten men escaped but the rest were trapped in the mound of snow. One of them, identified as havaldar Rakesh Kumar from Bilaspur, was rescued but he succumbed to his injuries in the civil hospital in Pooh.

Those who went missing are naik Videsh Chand, rifleman Govind Bahadur Chatri, rifleman Rajesh Rishi, rifleman Arjun Kumar and rifleman Nitin Rana.

Snow and rain on Thursday had repeatedly hampered the rescue operations launched in Namgia Dogri.

“Operations resumed in the morning. There are nearly 200 persons from the army, ITBP and Himachal police searching for the missing jawans,” Pooh’s additional district magistrate pooh Shiv Mohan.

Mohan said the body of Rakesh Kumar would be flown to his village Ghumarpur in Bilaspur district in a helicopter. The main road connecting Pooh was blocked due to the avalanche at Tinku nullah.

Himachal shares 260km of porous border with China. Of the total border length, 140km lies along Kinnaur and 80km of the border is along Lahaul and Spiti districts. The international border is jointly manned by the army and ITBP.