Jawan beats odds to survive avalanche

Nothing but a miracle. Six days after 10 Army soldiers, including a junior commissioner officer, were buried when a kilometre-wide and 600-feet-high wall of frost and snow fell on their post in the Siachen glacier at an altitude of 19,600 feet, one of them has been found alive.

Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, a resident of Betadur village in Dharwad district of Karnataka, was in an “arctic tent” buried under 25 feet of frost and snow, though in critical condition.

“It, indeed, is a miracle. We hope the miracle continues. Pray with us,” said Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, General-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of Army’s Northern Command, confirming Mr Koppad’s condition is critical. He was on Tuesday morning evacuated in a C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force to Army’s Research and Referral hospital in Delhi.

“All other soldiers are regrettably no more with us,” Lt. Gen. Hooda said. Four of them were from Tamil Nadu, two from Karnataka and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharahstra.

Army sources said that Mr Koppad remained buried under 25 feet of ice in temperatures close to minus 40. Hours after Army rescuers including specialist high-altitude teams on Monday, while excavating a new site in their search for the victims, retrieved the frozen body of one of them, they were elated to see signs of life.

The bodies of the remaining eight soldiers have also been recovered. At dawn on February 3, a wall of snow and ice bore down on the Army post, burying 10 soldiers alive. The Army had on February 4 said that there was no hope of finding any survivors even though desperate search operation was intensified with specialised teams, including high-altitude personnel of the Army and the Air Force.

Specialised equipment was flown from Delhi and sniffer dogs carved through massive chunks of frost. The Army officials said that the rescue operation has been the most difficult task as it is difficult to breathe at the height of 19,600 feet in the glaciated area which presents temperatures ranging from a minimum of minus 42 in the night to maximum of minus 25 during the day. The heavy equipment, which was flown from Delhi in parts, had to be assembled at the top. Also the rescue teams had to brave adverse weather like frequent blizzards and effects of rarified atmosphere to locate and rescue survivors.