Bodies of seven Army personnel hit by avalanche recovered in Arunachal Pradesh

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ITANAGAR: Bodies of all the seven personnel of the Indian Army, trapped in an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district were recovered from the site, a defence spokesman informed. The Indian Army along with the local police has retrieved the bodies from the avalanche site, Tezpur-based Defence Spokesman Lt Col Harsh Vardhan Pande said. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, all seven have been confirmed dead, the spokesman said.

The avalanche hit the army personnel on Sunday while they were on a regular foot at the Chume Gyater area near Yangtse in Tawang sector. The Chume Gyater area in around 100 km from the district headquarters of Tawang. The area, located at an altitude of 14500 feet, had been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days, the spokesman said.

The bodies of the soldiers are currently being transferred from the avalanche site to the nearest Army medical facility for further formalities, he added. The seven soldiers belonged to the 19 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles, an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Patrolling in high-altitude areas in the winter months can be challenging, and the Army has lost soldiers in such incidents earlier. In May 2020, two Army soldiers who were part of a patrol-cum-snow-clearing party died after they were caught in an avalanche in Sikkim. In October last year five Navy personnel were caught in an avalanche on Mt Trishul in Uttarakhand, where they had gone for an expedition. Their remains were recovered later.

In February 2020, the government informed Parliament that six Army personnel had died due to avalanches and snow-slides in the Siachen Glacier in 2019, while 11 others were killed in similar incidents elsewhere. The government had said that all armed forces personnel inducted into "high-altitude regions are provided adequate training in mountain craft, ice craft and survival in glaciated terrain in mountains, and in coping with any eventuality like avalanches" and that they are also "taught to handle medical emergencies".

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