Avalanche Incident
Avalanche Incident
Reuters - 08:22 a.m. Mar 30, 1998 Eastern
TUNCELI, Turkey, March 30 (Reuters) - Rescue workers on Monday recovered the body of a Turkish soldier buried by an avalanche last week, bringing the final death toll to 12, officials said.
"Twelve soldiers died in the avalanche," an official from the governor's office of the eastern province of Tunceli told Reuters. "The last soldier's body was recovered today."
The soldiers were buried by the avalanche in the mountainous province on March 22. Seven were rescued alive and another five were found injured.
Tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers were stationed in the area in their conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party rebels who are fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Reuters - 10:49 a.m. Mar 22, 1998 Eastern
TUNCELI, Turkey, March 22 (Reuters) -
Turkish security forces said on Sunday three soldiers had been killed after being buried under an avalanche in eastern Turkey.
They said another seven troops were still buried underneath the snow in the Yayladere area close to the border of Tunceli and Bingol provinces.
Ten soldiers had been earlier pulled out injured from under the avalanche, which happened on Sunday morning, they said.
The officials said military helicopters and emergency rescue teams with sniffer-dogs had been sent to the remote mountainous region to search for the missing men.
The troops, based in Erzurum, had been on patrol against Kurdish guerrillas when they were caught by the avalanche, the officials said. No further details were available.
Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are stationed in the area in their conflict with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who are fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish east and southeast.
More than 27,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 1984.
Reuters - 23 March 1998 - 13:34 CET, Paris time (12:34 GMT)
TUNCELI, Turkey, March 23 (Reuters) - Emergency workers recovered the bodies of four soldiers from an avalanche in eastern Turkey, bringing the death toll in the snow slide to at least seven.
Security officials said late on Sunday that four other soldiers were still missing after the avalanche in the mountainous eastern province of Tunceli.
Earlier, 10 injured soldiers had been dug out from the snow. The troops had been on patrol against Kurdish guerrillas when the incident happened.
Tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers are stationed in the area in their conflict with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who are fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish east and southeast.
More than 27,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 1984.
|
|