5 soldiers rescued from under the snow

Since 1984 Indian soldiers have been posted in icy Siachen at 20,000 feet believed to be the world's highest battlefield.

Soldiers are deployed on the glacier where temperatures range between -10 Celsius to -50 Celsius.

There is only 10% oxygen in Siachen as compared to the plains.

Snowstorms in Siachen can last weeks at a stretch and annual snowfall is over 3 dozen feet.

An avalanche hit an army camp in J&K's Ganderbal district on early Wednesday morning.

Two Army officers and jawans were blocked in shelters: four injured soldiers were later rescued and but one officer lost his life.

In recent years, there have been several landslides and avalanches which hit Indian army camps in Siachen and similar hilly terrain claiming lives of many Indian soldiers.

In 2016, 68 soldiers died due to Pakistani firing on the border but no fire has been exchanged between India-Pakistan in Siachen since 2003.

Despite no enemy-fire, 900 soldiers lost their lives due to extreme climatic conditions since 1984.

Avalanches occur frequently: in February 2016, 10 Madras Regiment personnel were buried in an avalanche and a month later, 4 others died in another avalanche.

10 soldiers lost their lives and four others went missing after two avalanches struck in the Gurez sector of Kashmir.

7 soldiers were rescued from the first avalanche that hit near the LoC, while 3 died. Meanwhile, in a second avalanche in the area, 7 soldiers died.

The Army is conducting search and rescue operations to locate and rescue missing soldiers.

The army rescued five soldiers who were trapped under the snow after their truck collapsed in an avalanche. It was the third consecutive avalanche related mishap in the region.

So far, one officer and 14 officers have lost their lives in snow/avalanche related accidents in three days.

The weather has made it impossible to transport the remains of the soldiers.