An army jawan from Darjeeling was today killed and another soldier is
believed to have been buried under mounds of snow after an avalanche
struck a patrol team in Ladakh.
Colonel S.D. Goswami, the defence spokesperson, Northern Command,
said the incident occurred around 8am when the troops were on a patrol
in Turtuk area.
According to Col. Goswami, Bhawan Tamang, a resident of Lopchu
village in Darjeeling, was retrieved from under the snow by a rescue
team but succumbed to his injuries.
"He was immediately retrieved and evacuated to the nearest medical
facility. But he could not be revived by the medical team," he said.
Col. Goswami said efforts were underway to rescue the other jawan
despite inclement weather. Today's was the second such avalanche to have
hit troops in the area in nine days.
On March 17, an avalanche had hit an army post situated at an altitude of 17,500 feet in the Kargil sector.
While one soldier was rescued immediately, the body of another jawan was retrieved from under the snow three days later.
Today's incident occurred one-and-half months after 10 soldiers were
killed when a massive avalanche buried their post at 19,600 feet in the
world's highest battlefield of Siachen.
The army literally pulled off a miracle when they extricated Lance
Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad alive from under mounds of ice and snow after
five days.
Lance Naik Koppad, however, died of multiple organ failure in the
Army Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi some days later.(TT)
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