Srinagar: Four army soldiers and five civilians were killed in avalanches in Kupwara and Ganderbal districts in Jammu & Kashmir.

An army party was hit by an avalanche in the Machhil sector close to the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday night in which five army jawans got buried under the snow. Rescue parties immediately reached the spot and an operation was started.

"We took out all the five people buried under the snow while four of them succumbed, " said Shriram Ambarker, SP, Kupwara told IANS.

Five civilians were killed in the second avalanche in Ganderbal district. Two bodies were found on Monday night and three were found on Tuesday morning. The bodies were handed over to their relatives.

IANS