SRINAGAR: Five Army jawans rescued alive, but seriously injured after they were trapped under snow while on a routine patrol along the Line of Control (LoC) Saturday, died in hospital Monday.
The Army said the soldiers from the 56 Rashtriya Rifles died despite being given “best available” medical aid at the nearest facility in frontier Kupwara district.
But efforts to evacuate them to Srinagar failed because the region was receiving heavy snowfall, making safe navigation of helicopters impossible. Three of the victims are from Maharahstra and one each from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. “The Army helicopters had during the past two days failed multiple times to bring the injured soldiers to Srinagar’s 92-Base Army Hospital for specialised treatment,” defence spokesperson Col. Rajesh Kalia said. They were airlifted to Srinagar on Monday following improvement in weather.
Victims trapped under snow while patrolling
The victims were trapped under snow while they patrolled the LoC in Machil sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district early Saturday.
The Army had said that a rescue operation was started immediately after learning about the cave-in occurrence in the area which with rest of the Valley was receiving heavy snowfalls.
They soldiers are: Naik Mane Ramchandra Shamrao (Karoli village in Sangli district, Maharahstra], Grenadier Thamothara Kannan M (Kvellakullam village in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu), Signalman Parmar Deva Haza Bha [Karmadiya village in , Bhavnagar district in Gujarat], Sepoy Dhavale Ganesh Kisan (Asare village in Satara district, Maharashtra] and sepoy Ambore Balaji Bhagwanrao [Tadkhlas village in Parbhani district, Maharahstra]
“A swift rescue operation was started despite hostile weather and luckily all the five jawans have been rescued and are now undergoing treatment at the nearest medical facility,” defence spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia had said.
Also, the bodies of 14 soldiers who were killed after being swept away by two avalanches in 2,580 m high Gurez area close to the LoC on January 27 were brought to Srinagar on Monday.
