07 Apr 2012 18:44
Source: reuters // Reuters
This 1999 file photo shows a Pakistan army helicopter landing on the Siachen Glacier in northern Pakistan where Pakistani troops are battling against India's military on the world's highest battle field. REUTERS/Handout Old
* Snow up to 80 feet deep
* High-altitude base is near tense frontier with India (Updates number of buried soldiers, adds civilians)
By Mahawish Rezvi
ISLAMABAD, April 7 (Reuters) - An avalanche engulfed a Pakistani army battalion headquarters near the Indian border on Saturday, burying 124 soldiers and 11 civilians, with no sign of survivors 17 hours later, the military said.
The snow left by the avalanche was up to 80 feet (25 metres) deep over an area a kilometre wide, state television quoted army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas as saying.
The victims were trapped in one of the most unforgiving environments on earth, at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,500 metres) near the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram mountain range.
The area is also one of the world's most militarily tense frontiers, where the Indian and Pakistani armies have confronted each other over disputed territory for decades.
Eleven civilian employees of the military were buried under the snow along with the soldiers of the 6 Northern Light Infantry Battalion, the military said in a statement.
"This battalion headquarter (has been) situated at same place for the last 20 years and no incident of this nature has happened," it said.
TAKEN BY SURPRISE
Helicopters were deployed in a rescue operation. Troops used sniffer dogs to comb the area, said the military. Heavy engineering equipment was flown to the site from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad.
"This happened at six o'clock. These avalanches usually happen at night. It took them by surprise," Abbas told Reuters.
The army listed the names of the missing soldiers and civilians on its public relations website.
The military has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 64 year history, setting foreign and security policy even when civilian governments are in power, as is the case now.
Siachen is in the northern part of the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The no-man's-land of Siachen is 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) above sea level.
Military experts say the inhospitable climate and avalanche-prone terrain have claimed more lives than gunfire.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is at the heart of hostility between India and Pakistan and was the cause of two of their three full-scale wars.`
Siachen has been described as the world's highest battlefield. Indian and Pakistani troops have fought at altitudes of over 20,000 feet in temperatures of minus 60 degrees Celsius.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 Indian and Pakistani troops are stationed in the mountains above the glacier.
A tentative peace process is under way, with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday, the first visit to India by a Pakistani head of state since 2005. (Additional reporting by Rebecca Conway; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Andrew Roche)
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Siachen Glacier: Pakistan army hopes miracle will save avalanche victims
By Reuters
Published: April 8, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military hoped for a miracle on Sunday as rescue teams searched for 124 soldiers and 11 civilians buried by a Himalayan avalanche near the Indian border, with no sign of survivors another 24 hours later.
The avalanche engulfed Pakistan army headquarters near a glacier early on Saturday, leaving snow up to 80 feet (25 metres) deep over an area a kilometre wide.
The victims are trapped in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth, at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,500 metres) near the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram mountain range.
“Let’s hope for a miracle,” a military official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
Helicopter rescue teams and troops on the ground with sniffer dogs were racing against time.
“On Wednesday and Thursday we expect cloudy conditions and some snow fall as well which will make it difficult for any rescue operations to continue,” said meteorologist Mohammed Hanif.
Eleven civilian employees of the military were buried under the snow along with the soldiers of the 6 Northern Light Infantry Battalion, the military said in a statement.
The army listed the names of the missing on its public relations website, from officers to waiters to barbers.
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Toxic gases hamper search at Siachen avalanche site
By AFP
Published: April 17, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Toxic gases Tuesday hampered the search for 138 people buried by an avalanche at a high-altitude Pakistan army camp, as teams from the United States and Norway arrived at the site to help operations.
A huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in disputed Kashmir more than a week ago, smothering an area of one square kilometre (a third of a square mile).
Rescuers have dug tunnels in the hard mass of snow and ice to try to reach the buried soldiers and civilians at the Giari base, but toxic gases have built up inside one of them, the military said in a statement.
A rise in the temperature has increased the risk of further snow slides, the statement said, forcing workers on the site to take extra precautions.
Specialist teams from Norway and the United States arrived at Giari, while Swiss and German teams have returned home after helping the efforts.
Search teams are looking for the trapped soldiers and civilians at six different points on the site, around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) up in the mountains.
More than 450 rescuers are working at the site near the de facto border with India in the militarised region of Kashmir, though experts have said there is virtually no chance of finding any survivors.
Kashmir has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan and the rivals fought over Siachen in 1987, though guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent since a peace process began in 2004.
Read more: Siachentragedy
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