India unites to pray for Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad who battles for life at the Army R&R Hospital in New Delhi, where he was brought in yesterday.

In Mumbai, the city's iconic dabbawalas prayed for his well-being (pictured), while in Varanasi, at the evening aarti, a special prayer was said for him. 

This morning, Army chief Dalbir Singh visited the hospital for the second time, where he was told that Hanamanthappa continues to remain serious. 

Army officials says that the miraculous rescue of the Lance was possible because he was trapped inside an air pocket under 35 feet of snow, and had access to oxygen ever since he was buried alive in an avalanche on February 3.

Army sources said Hanumanthappa was detected with the help of a radar, but rescue teams had little hope of discovering him alive.

About 150-200 personnel from nearby posts and units, including the 19 Madras regiment to which Hanumanthappa belongs, were engaged in round-the-clock rescue work since the avalanche. The rescue teams, which also included two sniffer dogs, Dot and Misa, were equipped with radars, snow cutting equipment, medical equipment, Doppler radars and thermal detectors. They also had specialised digging and boring equipment, like rock drills, electrical saws and earth augers to break blue ice, which is harder than rock.