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Five soldiers missing after avalanche in J-K’s Gurez, Nowgam sector
The Kashmir valley received fresh snowfall on Tuesday, with the plain areas -- including Srinagar -- experiencing the first of the season.
Three soldiers of the Indian Army have gone missing after an avalanche struck the upper reaches of Gurez sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district, police said on Tuesday morning.
“The soldiers are missing from Mani Post in Bagtoor area of Gurez. Search operations are on to locate and rescue them,” a senior official said.
Further details are awaited in the case, he added.
In another incident, two soldiers went missing in Kupwara’s district Nowgam sector.
The Kashmir valley received fresh snowfall on Tuesday, with the plain areas -- including Srinagar -- experiencing the first of the season. The hill resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg also received fresh snowfall.
The valley remained cut off from the rest of the country as flight operations at the Srinagar airport were suspended and the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed for traffic after the snowfall.
“Srinagar experienced 3.5cm of snow and rainfall while recording a minimum temperature of minus 0.2 degrees,” an official of the meteorological department said.
The MeT department had earlier sounded an alert of an active western disturbance between December 12 and 15 which is likely to cause widespread moderate-to-heavy rain or snow across Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir police have tweeted multiple pictures since morning showing its personnel braving the snow and helping commuters on the streets.