( dpa ) - At least 15 people, including seven soldiers were feared to have been buried alive after an avalanche hit an army post in India-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, a news report said.
"Seven army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, and eight civilian porters have gone missing after they were buried under a massive snow avalanche in Baramulla district," defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel A K Mathur told PTI news agency.
Army and the police conducted search operations to find the "missing" porters and soldiers, near the Line of Control (LoC) a de facto border between Indian and Pakistani administered Kashmir.
The Baramulla district lies 60 kilometres west of state capital Srinagar.
Mathur said the chances of survival were bleak and no bodies had been recovered so far.
But police sources told PTI that two bodies were recovered, though the search would continue on Thursday since operations were suspended on Wednesday night.
Earlier, two soldiers were killed on Tuesday when they were buried under a snow avalanche in the state's Kupwara district.
Avalanches are a common feature as it snows heavily during this time of the year. A warning was issued to all army units in the region last month.