Fifteen bodies of soldiers and civilians have been recovered from under debris of two avalanches that struck a remote area of the Neelum Valley.

“By Saturday evening, the bodies of nine army personnel and six civilians have been retrieved from beneath the huge mass of snow and mud,” Neelum deputy commissioner Saqib Munir said on return from the site of the incident.

A junior commissioned officer and two soldiers were hit by a huge mass of snow and mud near the Qasim post on Thursday.

An army rescue party was sent up to search for victims when a second avalanche occurred burying more victims . “Eight army men and seven civilians were trapped beneath the avalanche,” he said. Fresh teams of rescue workers were sent to launch rescue operations and by Saturday evening, 15 bodies had been recovered, including that of Captain Imran.