A major avalanche on Siachen glacier in Ladakh claimed the lives of three Army personnel on Tuesday. Rescue operations to retrieve others are underway in the region.
The Siachen Glacier, often called the world’s highest battlefield, lies in the eastern Karakoram range at altitudes around 20,000 feet. Soldiers stationed here endure extreme conditions, with temperatures plunging to -60°C, low oxygen levels, avalanches, and treacherous terrain. More lives are lost to frostbite, high-altitude sickness, and accidents than to actual combat in this harsh environment.
For soldiers deployed in Siachen, the risks go far beyond enemy fire. Frostbite, hypoxia, and sudden avalanches are daily threats in a place where simply surviving is a battle.
This is not the first such tragedy. In 2021, two soldiers were buried by snow in the Haneef sub-sector before a six-hour operation managed to pull out the rest of the troops and porters trapped under ice. Two years earlier, in 2019, another avalanche claimed the lives of four soldiers and two porters while they were patrolling near a post at 18,000 feet.
The deadliest avalanche in recent years struck in 2022, but outside Siachen. In the Kameng sector of Arunachal Pradesh, seven soldiers lost their lives when an avalanche swept through the area. The impact was so devastating that their bodies were only recovered three days later.
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