The initial reports said that at least eight army jawans were buried under the snow as the avalanche hit the army post at Siachen glacier in Ladakh. The avalanche hit the Army position in the northern glacier at around 3:30 pm on Monday. The Army troops immediately launched the rescue and recovery operations.

All eight personnel were pulled out of the avalanche debris. “Seven individuals who were critically injured, accompanied by medical teams, providing critical care were evacuated by helicopters to the nearest Military Hospital, where all lifesaving resuscitative measures were instituted,” an official statement by the army said.

“Despite best efforts, six casualties, which include four soldiers and two civilian porters succumbed to extreme hypothermia,” it said.

The avalanche had taken place in the Northern Glacier where the altitude is around 19,000 feet and above.

In February this year, 10 Army jawans got trapped under 35 feet of snow after a wall of ice came crashing down on them at the Siachen Glacier.

A team of 150 Army men, including a group specialised in glaciated terrain, rushed to the site for an around-the-clock rescue operation.

After hours of the excruciating rescue operation in the extreme weather, the rescue team found Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad. He was buried under a thick bed of ice at 19,500 feet at the Siachen Glacier.

However, the sole Siachen survivor died three days after being rescued from Siachen Glacier.