Rescuers too faced threat of avalanche

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 9

Even as Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad has been put on ventilator at R&R Hospital in New Delhi, his detection 25 feet beneath snow at 19,600 feet and subsequent evacuation was an instance of synchronised effort of specialised teams.

After zeroing in on the affected area with the help of special radars and avalanche rescue dogs, specialised teams were divided into sub-groups and the process of digging ice began, said a senior Army source. The radars were capable of detecting metals and heat signatures up to 30 feet beneath snow, he added.

Late on Monday, multiple teams at the site had to take turns to dig frozen snow to reach the soldier trapped 25 feet beneath snow. The teams had detected heat signatures with the help of radars, he said, adding that immediately the vital location was assessed and the process of rescuing the man began.

Being an area hit by an avalanche, the digging had to be conducted very carefully because there was always a strong possibility of the process triggering another avalanche, he said. Rescue teams were under constant threat of getting hit by another avalanche, he added.

No tunnel could be dug in such an avalanche-hit area as it posed a grave risk to rescuers, he said. Those buried under snow had to be reached vertically downwards very carefully and the specialised teams did it in case of Lance Naik Koppad, he said.

Once retrieved, a doctor at the site resuscitated him, he said. All precautions were taken to normalise vital parameters. The soldier was later flown in a helicopter to the Thoise airbase in Leh, from where a plane ferried him to Delhi.