Srinagar: Rescue teams, on Saturday, recovered the body of the missing Army jawan who was buried under snow following Friday’s avalanche in Turtuk area close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh.
The victim has been identified as Rifleman Sunil Rai.
At 8 am on Friday, a military foot patrol was hit by an avalanche in Turtuk area, sweeping away two Army jawans. Lance Havildar Bhawan Tamang who was rescued from beneath several feet deep snow immediately after the incident died of critical injuries he had sustained in the incident at a medical facility in the area later during the day.
Rai who went missing has also been found dead. A 24-hour-long search led to discovery of his frozen lifeless body lying under several feet deep snow on Saturday morning, defence spokesman Colonel S.D.Goswami said.
Turtuk in Nubra Valley at a height of 10,000 feet above sea level is pretty close to the LoC and was part of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir prior to 1971 war. Turtuk is one of the gateways to the Siachen Glacier.
Lt. Gen. DS Hooda, Northern Command chief, has expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victim. He added, “The Indian Army fraternity stands shoulder to shoulder with the bereaved families in their hour of grief".
Col. Goswami said that mortal remains of the soldiers are being evacuated from the area of the avalanche, after which, a wreath laying ceremony will be held to honour the martyrs. “Thereafter, they will be transported by air to their native places where they will be accorded funerals with full military honours,” he said adding that Lance Havaldar Tamang is survived by his wife, a six year old daughter and his parents, whereas Rifleman Rai is survived by his parents and two younger brothers.
In a similar incident two Army jawans were swept away when an avalanche triggered by a mild earthquake hit an Army post in Biamah area at an altitude of 17,500 feet above sea level close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Kargil sector. One of them Sujit was immediately rescued and is recovering in a military hospital. But his colleague Sepoy Vijay Kumar K went who went missing in the mishap and his frozen lifeless body was retrieved from under fifteen feet of snow accumulated in the area of avalanche occurrence three days later by the rescuers. The victim was a resident of Vallaramapuram village of Thirunelvelli district of Tamil Nadu.
On February 3, nine Army soldiers including a junior commissioned officer were buried alive when a huge wall of frost and snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier, smothering a vast area which also had an Army camp located on it in the southern side of the area at a height of 19,600 feet in eastern Ladakh. A tenth soldier Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, a resident of Betadur village in Dharwad district of Karnataka, was miraculously pulled out alive from an ‘arctic tent’ buried under 25 feet of frost and snow though in critical condition by the rescuers on February 8, six days after the incident. But he too died in Army's Research and Referral Hospital, Delhi three days later.
