140 buried in Siachen avalanche dead: Pakistan

Pakistan declared 140 people dead who remained buried in an avalanche since last month in the Siachen region.

Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday declared 140 people dead who remained buried in an avalanche since last month in the Siachen region.

All those killed have been declared "martyrs" by the Army.

The avalanche struck an army camp on April 7 in the Gayari area of the Siachen glacier, dubbed the world`s highest battleground, where armies from both the neighbours stand eyeball-to-eyeball.

Pakistan has declared 129 soldiers and 11 civilians dead, a news channel said.

"Nature and the magnitude of the calamity is suggestive of no probability of recovering any person alive," Xinhua quoted an army statement as saying.

Rescuers have so far recovered only three bodies of soldiers.

IANS