Saturday, October 8 2005 15:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Five army personnel were killed and a dozen others injured in Uri sector near the Line of Control as a bunker building collapsed due to the massive earthquake that rocked the region today (Oct 8, 2005), defence sources said.

Army has launched rescue and relief operations in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, which faced the brunt of the temblor measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale.

Rescue teams were dispatched to remote areas in border districts of Poonch, Baramullah and Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir to carry out rescue operations, the sources said.

Helicopters and aircraft were also being pressed into service to assess the damage and rescue those trapped in the debris.

The three districts are very close to the epicentre of the quake in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and authorities fear that major damage may have occurred there.

There has been no communication with villages in the districts and Army teams have been sent to re-establish contact with them, Army sources said here.

In Uri, the quake triggered landslides cutting off villages and the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Highway.