In an unfortunate incident, 10 civilian workers got trapped in an avalanche near the Khardung La Pass in Ladakh on 18 January 2019 at 0715 hours. Troops of ‘Fire and Fury Corps’ of the Army deployed at nearby locations of Khardung La, South Pullu and North Pullu responded immediately to rescue the individuals trapped.Massive search and rescue operation called ‘Operation Khardung La Rescue 2019’ was launched to save the 10 individuals who got washed away by the devastating avalanche. Well trained troops from the Siachen Brigade were mobilised immediately. Specially trained Avalanche Rescue Dogs and specialised equipment was also moved to the avalanche site to locate the missing individuals at the earliest. Despite the inclement weather, the Army aviation helicopters flew in multiple sorties to induct the troops and equipment required for the rescue operations. Medical teams with life saving equipment were also moved in. The state machinery also swung into action with the State Disaster Relief Force, Jammu and Kashmir Police and volunteers assisting the troops with the rescue operations, a defence spokesman said Valley Media Service in a statement.Lt Gen Y K Joshi, General Officer Commanding ‘Fire and Fury Corps’ formed a Task Force under ‘Siachen Brigade’ at the site and monitored the progress of operations regularly including aerial reconnaissance.The joint military- civil task force carried out relentless search operations in an area extending more than a kilometer, braving the odds against inclement weather, extremely low temperatures and intermittent snow fall. Unfortunately, none of the 10 individuals survived the initial onslaught of the avalanche but the human spirit and hope persisted and the task force continued with its search.By 25 Jan 2019, the Task Force was able to extricate the mortal remains of all ten of the missing individuals after carrying a thorough search of the run out zone relentlessly over nine days.Lt Gen Y K Joshi, General Officer Commanding ‘Fire and Fury Corps’ expressed his grief over the tragic incident & loss of life. The GOC visited troops on ground on 25 Jan 2019 and commended the efforts of own troops, as also the civil administration and all the volunteers, who carried out the search in arduous conditions, challenging terrain and inclement weather.(VMS)