The dead bodies of nine soldiers, who were killed in the avalanche that hit the Indian Army post in Siachen on 3 February, were flown back to the base camp in Ladakh sector on Saturday. The nine bodies, recovered on 9 February, will be taken to Leh after the weather clears in an Army helicopter.
Weather between Siachen base camp and Leh is reportedly not fit for helicopter operation. Therefore all mortal remains have been moved to Military Hospital, Hunder (near Parthapur), for embalming and custody till weather clears.Senior Army Officer
The Meteorological Department has predicted clear weather on Sunday, the officer added.
Bad weather conditions had earlier hampered the airlifting of the bodies from the high altitude post in Siachen glacier.
A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and nine other soldiers of Madras Regiment were buried on February 3 after their post was hit by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,600 feet close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, where the temperature was minus 45 degrees Celsius.
One soldier named Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad was found alive six days after the disaster, but he breathed his last on 11 February at the Army hospital in Delhi.
The mortal remains of those brought down to Siachen base include:
- Subedar Nagesha TT of Tejur village, Hassan district, Karnataka
- Havildar Elumalai M of Dukkam Parai village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu
- Lance Havildar S Kumar of Kumanan Thozhu village, Theni district, Tamil Nadu
- Lance Naik Sudheesh of Monroethuruth village, Kollam district, Kerala
- Sepoy Mahesha PN of HD Kote village, Mysore district, Karnataka
- Sepoy Ganesan of Chokkathevan Patti village, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu
- Sepoy Rama Moorthy of Gudisatana Palli village, Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu
- Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed of Parnapalle village, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh
- Sepoy (Nursing Assistant) Suryawanshi S V of Maskarwadi village, Satara district, Maharashtra
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