SRINAGAR: Eleven Indian soldiers and four civilians have been killed in avalanches in the heavily militarised Himalayan region of Kashmir, army and police officials said on Thursday.
Kashmir has seen heavy snow this week and authorities have warned of the “high danger” of avalanches over the next two days. Power and communication lines have also been cut in some areas.
The army on Thursday recovered the bodies of ten of its men who were killed in an avalanche the previous day. One body was found on Wednesday, spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia told Reuters.
Several army personnel were rescued after being trapped in avalanches late on Wednesday, he said.
The four civilians killed included two children of a family whose house was hit by a separate avalanche, also on Wednesday, a police spokesman said.
More avalanches hit the region on Thursday, although there were no reports of further casualties.
In 2012, a massive avalanche in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir killed 140 people, including 129 soldiers.
Kashmir, divided between the nuclear-armed neighbors, has long been a source of tension between them.
