Itanagar: All the seven ill-fated army soldiers who were found dead in the avalanche site in Kameng sector  at 14300 ft height in Arunachal Pradesh have been identified. Their bodies were retrieved from the wreckage site on February 8 by the rescue team, the army confirmed. 

They have been identified as Hvl Jugal Kishore, Rfn Arun Kattal, Rfn Akahay Pathania, Rfn Vishal Sharma, Rfn Rakesh Singh, Rfn Ankush Bhardwaj, Gnr Gurbaz Singh. Three each of the ill-fated soldiers belong to Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir while one solider Gurbaz Singh comes from Punjab.

The three soldiers- Akshav Pathania,  Rakesh Singh, Ankush Bhardwaj- hail from Kangra region of Himachal.  

Three others soldiers - Jugal Kishore, Vishal Sharma, Arun Khattal  come from Jammu and Kashmir. LG Jammu and Kashmir has condoled the death of the soldiers and expressed his grief to the bereaved families. 

Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu today announced the ex-gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh each to kin of  the soldiers and mourned their  death,  expressing sympathy with the bereaved family members.

The rescue operation was launched soon after  the news  that the seven army personnel  had gone missing in avalanche in the upper snowbound Kameng region of Arunachal Pradesh reached the army and state headquaters  on February 6.  The teams were airlifted to the site but the ill-fated soldiers were dead before they could be rescued in the avalanche, said the officials.  

 The army personnel were on patrol on the border area which had received heavy snowfall  when they were hit by the avalanche in the upper  snow bound  Kameng sector located at about 14300 ft on February 6. 

This has come as the second incident that an avalanche had hit the army patrol in winter in the Indo-China border of the Himalayan region.

On February 20, 2019,  a similar avalanche had hit the army  patrol in Shipkila area of Upper Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh  that had killed six  JK Rifles  jawans. Their bodies were retrieved after many days by the joint rescue operation.   

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have expressed their grief over the loss of seven brave soldiers who were trapped and later found dead in an avalanche in upper Kameng.   “We will never forget their exemplary service to the nation and express my condolences to the bereaved families”, Prime Minister said.