Siachen tragedy – Day 3: With hope lost, rescuers face new dangers

Digging through snow, rescuers fear the bodies might be desecrated.

ISLAMABAD: With a search operation under way for the past 52 hours and fresh snowfall, hopes of finding 135 people buried by an avalanche faded swiftly — and new concerns emerged.

It has been over three days since a huge wall of snow crashed into a Pakistan Army camp in the Giari area near Siachen Glacier, and military officials saw grim prospects of recovering even a single survivor.

Around 124 troops from the 6 Northern Light Infantry Battalion and 11 civilians have been buried under 80 feet of snow since Saturday morning.

Specially-trained search-and-rescue teams of army engineers equipped with locating gadgets and heavy machinery joined rescue units aided by  sniffer dogs and helicopters.

But bad weather hampered efforts to boost the search despite the arrival of US high altitude specialists in Islamabad.

“With every passing day, hope is fading away for survivors,” an army official at the rescue site said.

Amidst fading hopes new concerns emerged for the rescuers: Ensuring physical safety of the bodies frozen in the snow as bulldozers and excavators dug through the debris in search of survivors.

“The absence of human tracing censors is causing a major problem in locating bodies,” another army officer told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.

“This delay in removing the snow, slush, boulders and mud is causing another grave concern: Possible desecration of the bodies during the cutting of snow with the blades of the bulldozers.”

Late on Monday, weather conditions turned for the worse with the Meteorological Department forecasting more snowfall for Tuesday.

Rescue updates

According to a military update on the rescue operation, 286 soldiers and 60 civilians along with bulldozers and JCB heavy equipments (used for digging) have been employed at the site.

The team has been able to clear one platform measuring 40 feet in length, 30 feet in width and 10 feet deep so far, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, an army officer said five helicopters were taking part in the operation and heavy machinery and technical experts from the NDMA and Strategic Plans Division have also been flown from Islamabad to the site. However, the official added that the helicopter service was not very effective because of the inclement weather.

International help

Switzerland and Germany, meanwhile, decided to send experts to Pakistan to assist with the rescue operation. According to diplomatic sources, the Swiss government is sending a team of three avalanche experts and a sniffer dog.

Another source said that the German government has offered assistance to dig out the buried soldiers. China, on the other hand, offered condolences over the tragic incident.

(Read: Why the Siachen issue must be resolved)

(WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING FROM SHABBIR MIR IN GILGIT AND AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2012.