NEW DELHI // An Indian soldier rescued nearly a week after he was buried by a deadly avalanche on the world’s highest battleground was airlifted to a military hospital in Delhi on Tuesday and in an “extremely critical” condition.
Hanamanthappa Koppad spent six days trapped after a massive block of ice fell onto his army post 5,900 metres high in the Himalayas, killing nine of his colleagues.
His rescue late on Monday came days after India said there was little hope of survivors from the disaster on the Siachen glacier in the disputed region of Kashmir.
General D S Hooda, who heads the Indian army’s northern command, said the man’s survival under nearly eight metres of snow in temperatures of minus 45ºC was a “miracle”.
“It was not a typical soft snow avalanche. It was like a wall of rock-hard ice,” he said, describing how army rescuers used sniffer dogs and specialist radar to detect the buried soldiers before cutting them free.
“The effort went on day and night, except during two nights when blizzards hit the area. In the end, the whole effort paid off as a miracle when a survivor was pulled out.”
The soldier was found conscious but severely hypothermic and in shock.
The government said he was now comatose and in an “extremely critical” condition and had been placed on a ventilator.
“We are all very, very happy,” Mr Koppad’s father said.
“God has been very kind to us. His mother had been crying, I was also crying.”
“We don’t have money to go and visit him. If the government can help us a little, we can go to meet him,” he added, without giving his name.
Gen Hooda said the bodies of the other nine soldiers had now been retrieved, declaring the rescue mission over.
Special battery-operated snow-cutters had to be flown in using helicopters, which at that altitude can only carry up to 50 kilograms in weight, he said.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visited Mr Koppad in hospital shortly after his arrival in Delhi.
“We are all hoping and praying for the best,” Mr Modi tweeted.
An estimated 8,000 soldiers have died on the Siachen glacier since 1984, almost all of them from avalanches, landslides, frostbite, altitude sickness or heart failure rather than combat.
In 2012, 140 Pakistani soldiers were killed at the high-altitude Gayari base in one of the worst disasters on the glacier.
Each side is estimated to deploy around 3,000 troops on the glacier, where winter temperatures plummet to minus 70ºC, with blizzards gusting at speeds of 160 kilometres per hour.
The nuclear-armed neighbours fought a fierce battle over Siachen in 1987, though guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent since a peace process began in 2004.
The Kashmir region, of which Siachen is a part, is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed by both in full.
It has triggered two of the three wars between the neighbours since independence in 1947 from Britain.
* Agence France-Presse
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Fitness problems in men's tennis
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ARGYLLE
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5