Himachal avalanche: Last two bodies recovered

The search and rescue operation for the remaining two missing soldiers who were trapped after an avalanche in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district was called off on Thursday with the recovery of their bodies.

The bodies of Videsh Chand and Arjun Kumar were recovered after 22 days of search, a defence spokesperson told IANS.

He said the bodies would reach their native places on Friday.

While Chand belonged to Himachal Pradesh, Kumar was from Jammu and Kashmir.

Six troopers of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles were buried following the avalanche on February 20 near the Tibet border, around 350 km from the state capital.

Two separate parties of the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were patrolling Namgia Dogri when the avalanche hit.

Five ITBP troopers were also injured in the disaster.-IANS