A jawan who was buried under 25 feet of snow was on Monday found alive in a critical condition six days after an avalanche hit an army post in the Siachen glacier.
“It was a miraculous rescue, all efforts are being made to evacuate Lance Naik Hanaman Thappa to the RR hospital in the morning,” said Northern Army commander Lt Gen DS Hooda.
“Five bodies have been recovered so far and four bodies have been identified. All other soldiers are regrettably no more with us,” he told PTI.
The soldier, who hails from Karnataka, was found buried under snow clinging on to life with barely a pulse.
A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and nine other ranks of Madras Regiment were buried after their post was hit by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,600 feet close to the Line of Control (LoC) , where temperatures can drop down to minus 45 degrees Celsius.
Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both entirely.
Thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops are stationed on the freezing Himalayan terrain, where more troops have died from the gruelling conditions than from hostile fire.
Last month, four Indian soldiers on foot patrol were killed by an avalanche in the same region.
In 2012, an avalanche in the Pakistan-controlled part of the glacier killed 140 people, including 129 soldiers. The two countries have discussed ways to demilitarize the Siachen Glacier without success.
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