Rescue vehicles move towards the site of the avalanche. Defence minister AK Antony expressed “deep anguish” in a condolence message to the families of the deceased. (AFP picture, PTI text)

Srinagar, Feb. 8: Seventeen soldiers, including an officer, were killed and as many injured after an avalanche struck an elite army institute that imparts snow-warfare training in Kashmir’s Gulmarg this morning.

The tragedy, one of the worst natural disasters to have hit the army in the Valley, at the High Altitude Warfare School occurred despite an avalanche warning by a defence ministry unit last evening, when it had started snowing heavily in Kashmir.

“An army officer, Lieutenant Prateek, and 16 other soldiers died, while 17 were injured. (But) our barracks and other complexes are safe and they were not affected by the avalanche. All personnel have been accounted for. A brigadier is overseeing the rescue operations,” army spokesperson Lt Colonel J.S. Brar said in Srinagar.

Another officer said there were around 70 trainees and trainers, some having tea and others pitching tents, when a portion of a snow-clad mountain caved in around 11am at Khilanmarg (a site some distance from the main campus). I think it is the first time that an avalanche has struck the school since it was founded in 1948,” he added. Khilanmarg is in the upper reaches of the world-famous ski resort of Gulmarg, located at over 10,000 feet.

The officer said there were more than 400 trainees at the school, but most were not the part of the team that met with the tragedy. “Some of the jawans are critical and they have been sent to hospitals, some to Srinagar,” he added.

Local authorities, including civilian doctors and police, helped pull out the soldiers — including the 17 injured — from under the snow, the army officer said, adding strong icy winds were hampering the efforts. In Delhi, the army confirmed this evening that officer Prateek and 16 others had been killed, but said over 70 soldiers had been rescued so far. The search was continuing for more jawans who may be trapped under the snow.

The Gulmarg school is the army’s top institute for high-altitude and snow-warfare training, which includes skiing. Soldiers are put through the winter warfare course from January to April. A separate mountain warfare programme is conducted at nearby Sonamarg during summer.

Gulmarg has received more than five feet of snow in the past few days, prompting the Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation — under the defence ministry — to issue the avalanche warning yesterday urging people to avoid movement because of the bad weather. The Valley received the first major snowfall of the season last week. The conditions got worse in the past four days.

Aamir Ali, who is in charge disaster management in the Kashmir government, said the site of the tragedy, Khilanmarg, fell in the “under medium-danger zone” as far as avalanches were concerned. Sonamarg — where training is given to soldiers in mountain warfare in summer — is in the “high-danger zone”.

The snow and sleet will continue for the next two days, weather officials said. The heavy snow blocked Kashmir’s main highway, the only road link to the rest of the country, for the third day today.

“It is snowing heavily and there is fog. Weather is hampering rescue operations,” senior police official A.Q. Manhas said in Srinagar.