KATHMANDU: Six people – four soldiers and two porters – lost their lives in an avalanche that struck on the Siachen Glacier in the northern part of India-administered Kashmir, BBC reported.
According to the Indian Army, an eight-man patrol was close to 19,000 feet up in the Himalayas when the avalanche hit. The incident took place at around 3 pm Monday.
A rescue team managed to retrieve all the men and helicopters evacuated seven critically injured members of the group to a nearby military hospital. The condition of seven among those airlifted was critical.
Six of the men later died of hypothermia.
Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world, lies on the Karakoram Range 20,000 ft. above the sea level.
The temperature of Siachen glacier is below minus 60 degree Celsius where avalanche is normal.
Earlier, 10 soldiers had died in a Siachen avalanche in 2016.
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