In Siachen tragedy, a tale of an officer's priceless faith

February 12, 2016 14:17

In the collective shock of a country at the death, life and death of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, one man stands tall: his commanding officer, Col Um Bahadur Gurung of the Indian Army's 19 Madras battalion.

Gurung kept hope alive and supervised the rescue and search at the post in Sonam after the wall of ice came down on his men on February 3. It was his faith that led the rescuers to Hanamanthappa and the others.

Hanamanthappa died a little before noon following multiple organ failure, three days after he was pulled out alive from the ice-and-snow debris and nine days after the avalanche that killed nine other soldiers. Read more

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