SRINAGAR: A massive avalanche slammed the popular ski resort Gulmarg killing 17 soldiers and injuring an equal number when the troops were in the midst of a winter warfare training on steep slopes, about 70 km from here on Monday.

The avalanche came hurtling down on the 60-strong combat troops as they were scaling the icy walls of high-altitude Khilanmarg peak in near zero visibility, police and army said.
Seventeen jawans were buried alive under huge piles of snow, 17 were extricated while 26 were rescued, army spokesman Col J S Brar said. The injured, all in serious condition, were admitted to the army hospital here, he said. “The rescue operations began at 11.05 a.m. and were declared completed at around 6.30 p.m. We used various equipment including snow heating devices to detect presence of soldiers buried under the snow,” he added.
The dead included an officer, Lt Prateek and 16 other jawans, all from army’s prestigious High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), Col Brar said.
The 60 were part of a group of 350 soldiers selected for advanced winter warfare course run by the Gulmarg-based school, Col Brar said. It has been snowing heavily in Gulmarg and its surrounding areas in the past few days with reports pouring in of six-foot of snow in certain areas.
Heavy snowfall has been continuing in the higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley for the past three days and the disaster management cell, as well as the local weather office, had issued a warning against possible avalanches in the areas. Officers and soldiers going for high altitude deployments are first trained and get acclimatised at the warfare school near Gulmarg.