Bodies of nine soldiers killed in avalanche flown out of Siachen

The bodies of nine soldiers who died in the avalanche in Siachen's Sonam post were flown out on Saturday, Army said.

"Exploiting very narrow window of fair weather army aviation helicopters, in a daring act, have succeeded in moving mortal remains of the nine bravehearts from the northern glacier to airstrip close to base camp," an army spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said three attempts were made to move the bodies on Friday but failed due to bad weather.

A FIR was lodged and embalming was carried out as the bodies reached Partapur village in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Weather permitting the mortal remains are planned to be brought to Leh on Sunday morning and thereafter will be flown to New Delhi," the spokesperson added.

The nine soldiers are Subedar Nagesha TT, resident of village Tejur, Hassan district Karnataka; Havaldar Elum Alai M., resident of village Dukkam Parai, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu; Lance Havildar S. Kumar, resident of village Kumanan Thozhu, Teni district, Tamil Nadu; Lance Naik Sudheesh B., resident of village Monroethuruth, Kollam district, Kerala; Sepoy Mahesha P.N., resident of village HD Kote, Mysore district, Karnataka; Sepoy Ganesan G., resident of village Chokkathevan Patti, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu; Sepoy Rama Moorthy N., resident of village Gudisa tana Palli, Krishna Giri district, Tamil Nadu; Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed S., resident of village Parnapalle, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh; and Sepoy (Nursing Assistant) Suryawanshi S.V., resident of village Maskarwadi, Satara district, Maharashtra.

The tenth soldier Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad was found alive but succumbed to multi-organ failure on Thursday. He was cremated in his home town in Karnataka on Friday.