Monday, February 7 2005 09:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: Six Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans were killed in a snow avalanche near the Jawahar Tunnel area on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the wee hours of the day, official sources said today (Feb 07, 2005).

An avalanche struck early this morning taking away the hut in which ten ITBP personnel were posted on duty, they said.

Six bodies have been recovered so far and a search was on to trace the remaining four, the sources said.

It has been snowing heavily in the area since last evening (Feb 06, 2005) and about seven feet snow had accumulated near the tunnel area.

Over 550 vehicles, including 200 light motor and passenger vehicles, were stranded between Banihal and tunnel area due to heavy snowfall, which has caused slippery conditions on the arterial road, they said.