SHIMLA: There are no whereabouts of five army jawans buried under avalanche in Namgia area of Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh since Wednesday afternoon. Inclement weather conditions and fresh avalanche on Thursday halted the rescue operation launched by 150 personnel or army, ITBP and police for a while which later resumed again. With incessant rain and snowfall in the area, rescue mission has become challenging. Inclement weather has also affected internet and telephone connectivity in the district.Rain and snowfall besides freezing cold with temperature running down several degrees below zero has made rescue operation difficult.One of the jawans who lost his life has been identified as Rakesh Kumar from Ghumarpur village of Shahtalai area of Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh. After coming to know about the incident, his family was in shock. He has left behind father Chiranji Lal, mother Kaushalya Devi besides wife Mamta Devi and sons- Manish and Vivek.While three missing jawans belong to Himachal Pradesh, one is from Jammu and Kashmir while another is from Darjeeling. In the avalanche, five jawans of ITBP were also injured.Five jawans were buried under avalanche on Wednesday when they were repairing the frozen water pipe in the nullah between Dogri and Namgia along Shipkila pass in Pooh block. Though operation was launched immediately to trace them but without any success so far.Officials said that on Wednesday, six jawans of Army were repairing the frozen pipe to resume the water supply while 10 jawans of ITBP were patrolling in the area right above them. Around 12 noon, avalanche hit the area taking along the army jawans. While one jawan was retrieved from the snow, but he could not be saved and succumbed to injuries at hospital in Pooh.

Stay updated with all the Latest Shimla headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.