Rescue operation continues in Gayari sector

Rescue operation continues in Gayari sector

Despite harsh weather conditions, search operation for 138 people, buried under a huge avalanche at an army battalion headquarter in the Gayari sector of Siachen, continues after four days of the incident. The military said that the rescuers are concentrating their efforts on five points at the site.

An Inter Services Public Relations press release said on Tuesday that efforts to search people buried under tons of snow, at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet), have intensified, with more than 450 people taking part. The rescuers are being aided by mechanical earth movers, bulldozers and excavators, and work is focusing on certain key areas.

“Five points have been identified on the site where rescue work is in progress,” the military said in a statement. “Two points are being dug with equipment while three points are being dug manually.”

The total number believed missing in the disaster rose to 138 on Tuesday, as the military released an updated list naming 127 soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, a major and a captain and 11 civilians. The experts say there are very little chances of finding any survivor.

“It is becoming difficult to locate people through thermal imagery camera and an infra-red system because by now probably there would be no body temperature under the snow,” Manzoor Hussain, the president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, told the media reporters.

Colonel (retd) Sher Khan, a mountaineering expert, believes the devastation may have been caused by a landslide rather than an avalanche. “For me it was a huge landslide provoked by a cloudburst, not an avalanche.”

“In this case a huge flood of water is coming down from the sky and creates a lot of mud and loose earth on the mountain. Mostly boulders, mud and water ran down the mountain,” Khan said, adding several days of freezing temperatures would have hardened the mass of snow, mud and boulders, making digging more difficult.

Meanwhile, specialist teams from the United States, Switzerland and Germany have arrived in Pakistan to help in the search process.

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Posted by Asma Rafique on Apr 11 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.