Soldier who survived under 35ft ice in Siachen for 6 days dies in hospital

New Delhi, Feb 11: Siachen soldier Lance Naik Koppad Hanmanthappa, who survived for six days under 35 feet of ice and snow in Siachen, passed away at the Army Hospital today.

The medical condition of Lance Naik deteriorated on Wednesday and he had slipped into comma.

“He continues to remain extremely critical with evidence of oxygen deprivation to the brain on CT scan. There is evidence of pneumonia in both lungs. In addition, multi-organ dysfunction state continues unabated,” stated the evening medical bulletin issued by the Research & Referral (R&R) Hospital where Hanmanthappa is undergoing treatment since Tuesday.

Doctors at the R&R hospital took a second opinion from a team of experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. The senior doctors were in agreement with the ongoing clinical management strategy and concurred with the future plan of management.

Hanmanthappa was pulled out alive from under 35 feet of snow in Siachen glacier on Monday, six days after an Army post guarding the world’s highest helipad was hit by a huge avalanche burying Hanmanthappa and nine other men from 19 Madras regiment. He was flown to Delhi and admitted to the R&R hospital on Tuesday.

“He experienced less oxygen supply to the brain besides hypothermia due to sustained exposure to sub-zero temperature and dehydration. In the absence of food, the metabolic system, too, failed, leading to kidney and liver failure,” William Selvamurthy, former director of Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Delhi, told Deccan Herald.

Following warming at the hospital, his blood pressure would drop, which the doctors had to manage, Selvamurthy added.

Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh said in a television interview that a day after the avalanche, the Army received a radio contact from the post buried under ice, suggesting that at least one person was alive. The rescue efforts were accelerated following the radio contact.

The Air Force and the Army carried out close to 300 sorties to ferry about 180 men, digging and detection equipment, and two sniffer dogs. It took six days for the men and machine to zero in on the spot and cut through blue ice – harder than concrete – to retrieve Hanmanthappa and nine other men, who perished in the icy heights.

The Dharwad man survived, explained Selvamurthy, possibly because of an air conduit through which he was receiving oxygen. Hanmanthappa did not exert himself and minimised metabolic functions and saved energy. Meanwhile, the mortal remains of other soldiers are stuck in the Siachen base camp as bad weather halted helicopter sorties.