SRINAGAR: An Indian army soldier was killed and nearly a dozen others were rescued when an avalanche hit a military post in Indian-held Kashmir on Tuesday, a day after 17 soldiers were killed in a massive avalanche in the region, army said.
The avalanche buried a forward military post in Tangdhar sector when cascading snow came down from a Himalayan mountain early Tuesday, said Col. Vineet Sood, an Indian army spokesman in Indian Kashmir's main city Srinagar.
Sood said at least 13 soldiers were rescued, but one soldier later died.
Tangdhar is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Srinagar and is very close to the Line of Control, a highly militarized cease-fire line dividing the Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
The claim over Kashmir has caused two wars between the two nuclear-armed rivals since they became independent from Britain in 1947. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are posted along either side of the Line of Control.
Following heavy snowfall across the region for the past three days, authorities have issued a warning of snow storms and avalanches in the higher reaches of the mountainous region.
"There is high possibility of fresh avalanches in mountainous areas for next 48 hours," said Amir Ali, an official of the state's disaster management authority.
On Monday, a massive avalanche slammed into the army's High Altitude Warfare School and swept away about 70 soldiers during a training session in the ski resort town of Gulmarg, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of Srinagar.
Seventeen bodies were found and 53 troops were rescued about six hours after the speeding mass of snow and ice struck the center high on a Himalayan slope.
Frequent rain and heavy snowfall often trigger avalanches and landslides in Kashmir, blocking roads and cutting off tourist resorts and mountainous areas in the region.
Last year in April, an avalanche hit an Indian army post in a separate region close to the de facto border with Pakistan, killing seven soldiers and injuring at least eight others.
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