After 6 days, soldier trapped in Siachen avalanche found alive

The Army’s rescue parties were cutting through up to 30 feet of ice at multiple locations where the soldiers could probably be buried, the Hindu quoted Hooda as saying.

Lance Naik Hanamanthappa was found buried under 25 feet of snow, days after the army had declared all 10 soldiers caught in the snow storm dead.

Tragedy had befallen the Indian Army on Wednesday when 10 Indian Army soldiers including a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of Madras regiment were swept away by a massive avalanche that buried their post at the altitude of 19,600 feet on the Siachen glacier.

But specialised Army teams, backed by sniffer dogs, ice-cutters, drilling machines and other heavy equipment, had continued with their major search-and-rescue operation braving the harsh weather and terrain.

Rescuers will attempt to take the soldier, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, off the mountain for treatment on Tuesday, as he remains in a critical condition. He was found during the army’s operation to recovered their fallen comrades’ bodies.

He hoped that Thappa, who hails form Karnataka, will beat the odds and recover. However, the other soldiers at Siachen were killed, he added.

“We are trying our best to evacuate him as soon as possible to RnR hospital”.an official said.

The loss of nine Indian soldiers in an avalanche on a Himalayan glacier has revived calls for India and Pakistan to withdraw troops and stem the death toll in the world’s highest conflict zone.

The glaciated area presents temperatures ranging from a minimum of minus 42 degrees Celsius in the night to maximum of minus 25 degrees C during the day.