Rescued Siachen soldier Koppad no more
New Delhi: Lance
Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad died here on Thursday, 11th February 2016,
three days after he was found miraculously alive under 35 feet of ice for six
long days in the treacherous Siachen glacier.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and many other leaders condoled his death as Koppad's body was flown to
Hubbali in Karnataka in an IAF An-32 plane, accompanied by his grieving family.
From there, the body will be taken to his village Betadur in Dharwad for the
last rites on Friday.
Mukherjee called the 33-year-old a
"hero who demonstrated exemplary will power and courage in the face of
adversity".
Koppad died at 11.45 a.m. at Delhi's
Army Hospital Research and Referral, where he was admitted on Tuesday,
following multi-organ failure, disappointing millions in the country who had
prayed for his recovery.
Koppad was found from under 35 feet of
hardened ice at an avalanche-hit army post in the Siachen glacier in Jammu and
Kashmir -- six days after an enormous snow wall came crashing down with a
massive roar on the post he and nine other soldiers were occupying.
The bodies of the other nine have been
found. Siachen, in Jammu and Kashmir, is the world's highest battlefield where
more Indian and Pakistan soldiers succumb to the extreme climate rather than
fighting. An India-Pakistan truce has been in place on the glacier since 2003.
Modi tweeted: "He leaves us sad
and devastated. RIP Lance Naik Hanumanthappa. The soldier in you remains
immortal. Proud that martyrs like you served India."
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar
added: "The nation salutes him."
Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh
said: "The soldier in him will continue to inspire generations."
Besides the army chief and Parrikar,
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
laid wreaths on the body at Delhi Cantonment. Koppad's wife Mahadevi and
two-year-old daughter Netra were present.
When Koppad was found alive late on
February 8 in Siachen, he was conscious but disoriented. The next morning, he
was flown to Delhi where his health took a turn for the worse on Wednesday.
On Thursday, doctors said in the
morning that he was "extremely critical", with worsening multi-organ
dysfunction. He had suffered from pneumonia and multi-organ dysfunction, and
the blood clotting disorder showed no sign of reversal.
The soldier was serving in the high
altitude Siachen glacier from August 2015 and was chosen for deployment on one
of the highest posts, where temperatures fall below minus 40 degrees Celsius
with wind speeds of 100 km per hour.
Koppad
has earlier served in difficult and challenging areas for 10 of the 13 years of
his military service, the army said. His postings had earlier taken him to
Jammu and Kashmir (2003-06 and 2008-10) and the northeast.
Siachen glacier is one of the five
largest glaciers in the Karakoram range, situated at an average altitude of
17,700 feet above sea level and is contested by India and Pakistan.
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