Himachal Pradesh: Operation to rescue 5 jawans trapped in avalanche continues on Day 6

SHIMLA: A team of Army, ITBP, local police and District Disaster Management personnel on Monday launched an operation to rescue five Army personnel trapped in snow avalanche which hit at Namgya in Kinnaur district on February 20. The operation was stopped on Sunday night due to bad weather.

A joint team of over 200 personnel has been working towards rescuing the five since Wednesday. Operations were halted on Thursday and then again on Friday night due to unfavourable weather. 

Six jawans of the Army's 7 JAK Rifles -- four from Himachal Pradesh and one each from Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir -- who were on routine patrol were buried under the avalanche that occurred near the Shipki La border outpost in Kinnaur district on Wednesday. 

Five Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP) troopers were also injured in the disaster. Talking to PTI, a state government official said that two separate parties of the Army and the ITBP were patrolling at Namgia Dogri when the avalanche hit the region.

The body of Army jawan Rakesh Kumar was recovered on Wednesday and he was cremated with full military honours in his native village in Himachal Pradesh on Friday.

Meanwhile, a fresh avalanche of about 120 metres in length and 20 metres in height hit the Tinku Nullah area in Kinnaur district on Friday.

(with PTI inputs)