[diutuartina]

Update Avalanche Clearance at Gayari Sector Siachen (Pakistani Army Release and Photos)

Search and rescue Operation at Gayari continues even in extremely cold conditions. A fresh slide, which had triggered at the site of old avalanche, have created difficulties for troops devoted to conducting search and rescue operation at Gayari. The situation has been compounded by the mass of snow in which troops are working under low temperature, intermittent snowfall and piercing blizzards. However, concern of their brothers at arms under avalanche is driving troops of Siachen Sector to endure hardships of the weather and terrain to accomplish their task befittingly.

The excavation work, therefore, continue at its fullest exploiting all available manual and mechanical resources. The endeavour is to dig as quickly as possible. In this regard, the search teams have commenced excavation at a new site as well with the help of plant equipment and infantry troops. The rescue teams have conducted first level explosion to dig further into hard mass of snow against the tunnel being attempted to access a suspected structure at an important excavation site. The digging team is doing a remarkable job in undertaking the tunnelling effort against all odds like heavy pileup of snow, extreme cold and cramped up work space. The excavation work at the remaining sites continues as usual. The all out support rendered by the nation by making maximum resources available have boosted the morale of the troops and given them vigour to undertake the mammoth task.

Rawalpindi - April 12, 2012:

A spokesman of ISPR said that technical teams of Germany, Switzerland and USA after having had initial consultations with Pakistani experts at Islamabad are in the process of deployment by road and by air at Gayari to assist and analyze the search and rescue effort. Teams of China and Norway with advance capability are expected to reach in Islamabad in next 24-48 hours, the spokesman concluded.