JAMMU, Jan 17: A bomb exploded in the main grain market of occupied Jammu on Thursday, killing two civilians and injuring eight more, police officials said.

One person was killed on the spot, while another died on the way to hospital.

The blast came barely an hour after US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in New Delhi.

In another incident, three Indian soldiers were killed and two others injured when a huge tree fell on their bunker along the Line of Control (LoC).

The soldiers were manning their bunker when the Chinar tree was uprooted during a blizzard and toppled over.

“Three soldiers died on the spot, while two were removed to hospital with serious wounds,” a spokesman said.

The Kashmir Valley has witnessed heavy snow and blizzards in the past two days.

Four Muslim porters working with Indian soldiers in held Kashmir and an Indian soldier died in two avalanches on Tuesday evening in Uri and Kupwara districts, near the LoC.—AFP