Three soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), died after they slipped into a deep gorge during patrolling along the Line of Control in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said on Wednesday.

An Army official said the JCO and two other rank soldiers were on a routine patrol in Macchil sector when the trio slipped into the gorge on Tuesday.

"During a regular op task in forward area, a party of 01 JCO & 02 OR slipped into a deep gorge, when snow on the track gave way. Mortal remains of all the three #bravehearts have been retrieved," the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps tweeted.

Giving details, a defence spokesman said the incident took place at around 5.30 pm on Tuesday when a team of soldiers was on a routine operational task along a narrow winter track.

“While moving towards the forward post, snow along the narrow track broke, leading to slipping of one JCO and two jawans into a deep gorge,” the spokesman said.

He said a search and rescue operation was immediately launched with troops from the nearest post.

“Inspite of adverse weather condition and rough terrain, sustained efforts of the search party led to the recovery of mortal remains of the three brave soldiers today morning between 04:15 to 04:45 AM,” he added. The deceased soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Parshotam Kumar, Havildar Amrik Singh and sepoy Amit Sharma.

Kumar (43), a native of Jammu and Kashmir’s Bishnah area, had joined the Army in 1996. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Singh (39) had joined the Army in 2001 and hailed from Una district in Himachal Pradesh. He is survived by his wife and one son.

Sharma (23) had joined the Army in 2019 and belonged to Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh. He is survived by his mother.

“The mortal remains of the three bravehearts will be taken for last rites to their respective native places, where they would be laid to rest with full military honours,” the spokesman said.

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