Himalaya avalanches kill Indian soldiers in Kashmir

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- An Indian army official reported that least 10 Indian soldiers died in two avalanches in India's mountainous Kashmir region.

Accounts of the death toll varied, but the unidentified official said the casualties came when an avalanche struck a military camp Wednesday in Kashmir's Gurez Sector of Bandipora district, a valley at about 8,600 feet in altitude and surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains. At least seven soldiers were rescued, but additional deaths came when a second avalanche struck a patrol on its way to adjacent Ganderbal district.

Snowfall in the area, territory controlled by India but contested by India and Pakistan, continued for three days prior to the avalanche.

Although Indian soldiers have been killed by Pakistani gunfire along the border, more than 900 have died in non-military incidents, mostly weather-related, in the region since 1984, an Indian army source told the Times of India.