ISLAMABAD, April 8: With the army’s command hoping for a miracle to find survivors near Indian border at 15,000 feet above sea level, Capital Development Authority’s technical teams with modern gadgets of finding people trapped under rubble have joined the military officials for search and rescue operation at Siachen – world’s toughest battlefield.

An official of the CDA said: “The demand for sending our people came from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) who requested for a technical team and we immediately dispatched two of them to assist army in the operation.”

Some 124 soldiers of 6th Northern Infantry Battalion along with 11 civilians were trapped under tons of snow when an early morning avalanche fell over a strategic mini- battalion headquarters of Pakistan Army.

An official of the army said search and rescue operation has been going on for the last 36 hours at Gayari Post. He confirmed to Dawn that teams of search and rescue workers of the CDA boarded a military C-130 plane which landed early Sunday morning at one of the strategic air strips of army – guarding the Siachen Glacier.“The teams are equipped with finding people under rubble having modern gadgets – wire cameras, voice detectors for catching voice signals of people who are trapped deep under the rubble,” said the official requesting anonymity.

It is pertinent to mention here the civic authority has a complete disaster management directorate having a search and rescue wing with K-9 dog unit for tracing people who are trapped underground.

“The NDMA did not ask for the K-9 search and rescue dog unit, however, if the army asked for it, we have the capacity to reinforce the technical teams at the post by providing the trained dogs too,” the CDA official added.

When asked to comment on the number of people sent there, he refused to share any further details saying: “It’s classified because Siachen is a strategic area and I can’t comment on it.”

Chairman Farkhand Iqbal and spokesman for the CDA Ramzan Sajid were not available for comments on the latest development despite making multiple attempts.