Rescue crews resumed their frantic search Sunday at a Himalayan military outpost near the Indian border where a massive avalanche buried up to 135 people, all but 11 of them Pakistani soldiers.
A blanket of rock and snow covering one square kilometer - about the size of a large city block - slid over the base on the Siachen glacier early Saturday morning, entombing it under 70 feet of snow.
The Siachen Glacier, known as the world's highest battleground, is 6,300 meters (20,670 feet) high and spans 77 kilometers (47 miles) across the Line of Control that separates India- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Poor weather had forced the crews to retreat Saturday night, after a day-long search at the base yielded no survivors.
"It's a very massive scale slide," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Saturday. "They are under the slide but we haven't lost hope. The rescue work is on, and we are keeping our fingers crossed."
Crews flew in heavy machinery flown from neighboring Rawalpindi. Sniffer dogs and troops using bulldozers worked the ground.
Abbas said the military had not been able to establish contact with anyone inside the base since the avalanche.
It was the first such disaster at the mountain headquarters in its two decades of existence, the military said.
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Hope the rescuers are able to save some lives. Siachen glacier claims lives routinely.
rock and snow
covering one square kilometer —
about the size of a large city block
soupy ice mixed with giant boulders doesn't isnt good...
May God save these these brave soldiers if they are alive.We are with our great men.