JOIN USThe body of a 40-year-old porter, who had fallen into a deep crevasse in Siachen's Northern Glacier at a height of about 19,000 feet, was today recovered after a massive five-day rescue operation.
Thukjay Gyasket, resident of Ayee village near Sasoma in Leh District of Jammu and Kashmir, had slipped and fallen into a deep narrow crevasse while ferrying stores between forward army posts in northern glacier area on February 27.
Specialised Rescue Teams from the Siachen Battle School were immediately launched to locate the porter. His mortal remains were located about 130 feet inside the narrow crevasse.
After locating the body, rescue teams moved inside the crevasse and anchored it to the ice wall to prevent it from further slipping down. The opening and gap of the narrow crevasse was also widened to retrieve the body intact, Army sources said.
The mortal remains of this dedicated porter have now been brought down to Hunder near Parthapur and will be handed over to the next of kin after necessary formalities. Thukjay is survived by his mother, wife and two daughters.
Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag paid rich tributes to the porter saying that it takes extraordinary courage, physical fitness and mental robustness for a civilian porter to work with the army in the torturous and unforgiving terrain of Siachen."For me, he is one of us," General Suhag told PTI here.
Lt General D S Hooda, Army Commander, Northern Command expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased porter and has assured all possible assistance to the family in this moment of grief.
The Army Commander also complimented the tireless efforts and unwavering commitment of the rescue team who braved freezing temperatures to locate and retrieve the mortal remains of the dedicated porter.
Army sources said Thukjay was himself part of crevasse bridging team and while returning after completing a task on a snow scooter with his buddy, the snow scooter slipped on ice while crossing the bridge on an old crevasse. He skidded off the snow scooter into the crevasse at 1430h on February 27.
A massive rescue effort was undertaken by the Army involving an average of five officers, 40 soldiers and 13 porters for five days. The efforts were extensive and round the clock using 20 types of rescue equipment which included oxygen cylinders, special ropes, harness, search light, generators and mechanical ice cutters among others.
This crevasse, at an altitude of 19,000 ft, was six ft long and 2-4 ft wide. The depth reached by the rescue team was 130 ft. However, the rescue operations were extremely slow as the width of crevasse had to be widened by cutting the blue ice.