SRINAGAR:Five soldiers who went missing after a pathway cleared in the snow caved in in Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Saturday have been rescued, officials said, as the Valley reeled under unprecedented snowfall over the past few days.
An army spokesperson said the soldiers who were on patrol near a camp in Machhal sector when they were buried under several feet of snow are undergoing treatment. Snow tracks are pathways carved out through snow to facilitate movement of men and vehicles.
The fresh incident came two days after two avalanches killed 14 soldiers in the Gurez sector near the border between Indian and Pakistan.
Separate avalanches buried a military post and swept away a patrol on Wednesday night in Gurez, burying a total of 21 Indian soldiers. Seven soldiers were rescued. Earlier, an army major was killed in an avalanche in Ganderbal district.
Several civilians have also been killed in the recent incidents. Kashmir has been witnessing one of the most severe winters in recent decades, with heavy snow across the territory and temperatures dropping to minus seven degrees Celsius.
Authorities have issued avalanche warnings, advising residents in mountainous areas not to venture out.
Meanwhile, the arterial Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only all-weather road link between Kashmir and rest of the country, remained closed for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday, choking supply of essentials to the Valley where prices of commodities have more than doubled in the past week.
“The Srinagar-Jammu road continues to remain closed for vehicular traffic in view of landslides at many places along the 294-km road. The road is slippery in certain snowbound areas,” an official of the traffic control department said. He said inclement weather was hampering efforts to restore traffic on the arterial highway. The official said as soon as the road is trafficworthy, the stranded vehicles along the highway will be cleared for movement