By NBC News and news services
Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET: ISLAMABAD -- An?avalanche with snow up to 80 feet deep slammed into a Pakistani military camp near the disputed Kashmir border with India, burying more than 100 soldiers, the army said Saturday.
Other soldiers using sniffer dogs and helicopters worked frantically to dig out?the troops. There were no signs of survivors 15 hours later, Reuters reported.
"This avalanche hit a (military) headquarters. Over 100 soldiers and personnel are trapped," army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas told Reuters, adding that a total of 117 soldiers were stationed there.
Snow from?the avalanche was up to 80 feet deep, state television reported, suggesting their chances of survival were slim.? State television, quoting the army spokesman, also said the avalanche covered an area 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) wide, Reuters reported.
The soldiers were trapped in one of the most unforgiving environments on earth, at an altitude of 15,000 feet?near the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram mountain range near the Indian border.
Earlier reports spoke of 130 and 150 troops being buried.
Siachen is in the northern part of the Himalayan region of Kashmir.?Pakistani and Indian troops have faced each other in the area -- dubbed the world's highest battlefield?-- since 1984. Many troops from both sides have died?because of?the extreme cold weather.
Over the years, several?attempts to find a diplomatic solution that would see troops pulled back to peace-time?positions have failed.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari?was?due to visit India Sunday.
Though his visit is?officially to pray at?a Muslim?shrine at Ajmer city, he will be attending a lunch in his honor held by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A Pakistani government official said the two leaders would hold talks that "would encompass all issues including Siachen and Sir Creek."
Reuters, The Associated Press and?NBC's Fakhar ur Rehman in Pakistan contributed to this report.
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