Army Officer and soldier killed in avalanche

Gangtok:Lt Colonel Robert TA and Lance Naik Sapala Shanmukha Rao died in a massive avalanche near Lugnak La, (pass) at 16,679 ft altitude, North Sikkim,on Thursday, an army official said.

Altogether 22 Army soldiers were clearing snow ,when the avalanche occurred.Immediate rescue operations were carried out and 11 soldiers were rescued. 

However, the two bodies were not found.As the operations continued body of Lieutenant Colonel Robert was found at night. While the rescue still continued  at 10.30 pm the body of Lance Naik  Sapala Shanmukha, was found.Both the brave men were declared dead when taken to hospital.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army has registered a formal FIR with Police.The bodies are yet to be postmortemed, before the Indian Army takes over again for last action and rites as per Lockdown formalities. (UNI)