The rescue operations to trace the five missing jawans of 7 J&K Rifles in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh resumed as weather cleared on Friday.
A team of six jawans were buried alive in an avalanche while patrolling Namgia Dogri at the Shipki La border post in Kinnaur district on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the trapped soldiers, Rakesh Kumar (41), was pulled out the same day but his life could not be saved. His body was airlifted to his native place Ghumarpur village in Bilaspur district today.
The other five are feared trapped under the mountain of snow and rescue operations are underway to locate them.
Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Gopal Chand said that inclement weather accompanied by heavy snow and glaciers had hampered the rescue operations on Thursday.
“The rescue operations have resumed again as the weather has now cleared,” he added.
Stepping up rescue operations, the Army deployed around 200 people that also include personnel from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO). However, by late evening, none of the missing persons could be traced.
The army intends to continue with the rescue operations till the last jawan is retrieved.