Seven soldiers of the Indian Army were saved, after their boat capsized during a rescue mission, in the Pulwama district, on the flood-affected Jhelum River, in Jammu and Kashmir, while two more soldiers remained trapped, on Saturday.
"Seven of the trapped personnel were rescued and evacuated to safety, while efforts are on to save the lives of two other soldiers," said an Army official, to The Hindu, on Saturday.
The aforementioned boat was carrying a team of army personnel, who were out on a rescue mission, in the flood-affected Pamopore area of the Pulwama province, which lies on the banks of the Jhelum River. As strong water currents swirled around the river, the boat capsized, taking all the soldiers down with it.
There were a total of 20 army personnel on board the boat. As the boat capsized, they all fell into the river and 11 of them managed to swim their way to safety, while the other nine remained trapped.
Two helicopters were immediately rushed to the area, to conduct a rescue mission.
However, the helicopters could not reach the place due to some technical difficulties. Following this, the rescue teams switched to boats as their medium to rescue the trapped soldiers.
They successfully extracted seven of the soldiers, while two of them still remain trapped in the currents, according to the latest reports.
The Army said that the flood in Kashmir is as bad as the floods that took place in Uttarakhand last year. They have deployed 60 columns to conduct rescue operations in the Kashmir valley.
So far, the Army has been able to rescue more than 5,000 people in the valley, according to the latest reports.
"Despite facing danger to personal safety, the Army personnel are out there to provide relief to the civilian population of Kashmir," said the Army Official. "We have set up temporary camps at several places for the displaced persons."
Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh assessed the whole situation, and assured Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that he would extend all help he can get from the centre.
"I have met the chief minister and the officers of the local administration and have been briefed about the situation here," said Singh, while addressing the media after touring the flood-affected regions. "If there is so much devastation in the city, I wonder what would be the situation like in rural areas,"
