Monday's avalanche slammed into the army's High Altitude Warfare School at about 11am and swept away the soldiers during a training session, said army spokesman Colonel Vineet Sood.

It was the worst avalanche in the area for many years, he said.

Seventeen bodies were found and 53 troops rescued six hours after the speeding mass of snow and ice struck the centre high on a Himalayan slope, said senior police officer Qayoom Manhas.

Mr Manhas said of those rescued, 17 needed emergency medical care. About 70 troops were taking a skiing test when the avalanche came crashing down, he said.

Rescue efforts involving army, police and civilian officials were "very timely, swift and co-ordinated", he said.

The accident happened near Gulmarg, a ski resort about 30 miles north west of Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, said Col Sood.

About 400 people, including 30 civilian workers, were at the training centre, but the avalanche hit only one portion of the facility. Incessant snow and rain complicated rescue operations. GM Dar, a tourist official in the area, said about 400 tourists skiing in Gulmarg were safe.

Frequent rain and heavy snowfall often trigger avalanches and landslides in Kashmir, blocking roads and cutting off tourist resorts such as Gulmarg. Gulmarg is also close to the Line of Control, a highly militarised ceasefire line dividing the Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The claim over Kashmir has caused two wars between the rivals since they became independent from Britain in 1947. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are posted along either side of the Line of Control. Last year in April, an avalanche hit an Indian army post in a separate region close to the de facto border with Pakistan, killing seven soldiers and injuring at least eight others.