Srinagar, 09 Jul 9: Army on Saturday said it is relentlessly carrying out rescue ops for injured Amarnath Yatris in the cloud burst at Baltal yesterday.
A Srinagar based Defence spokesman said the rescue team immediately rushed to the site on getting information about casualties even as an Infantry Battalion led by Colonel along with Quick Reaction Teams, an additional company worth of personnels from Sector RR and a team from Special Forces reached Holy Cave along with specialized rescue equipments to undertake the Rescue Ops. Through the night, Commander Sect RR & CO Infantry Battalion oversaw and coordinated rescue ops from the Holy Cave and Nilgrar, he said adding medical resources at Holy cave and at Nilgrar were activated and additional resources deployed.
As per the defence spokesman, nine Surveillance Detachments with HHTI, NVDs and other ni sights were also deployed for search ops even as Hand Held Thermal Imagers, Night Vision Devices and other night sights were used for search. Two ALH helicopters were moved for Casualty Evacuation at Holy Cave, however owing to bad weather situation night landing at Cave was unsuccessful, he said. Two Through Wall Radars and two Search And Rescue dog squads were also moved to Holy Cave for rescue ops.
The search, rescue and medical effort continued at day break and at 06.45 AM the first ALH landed at site to commence evacuation of the injured, the spokesman said. He said that both Army and Civilian helicopters are carrying out relentless sorties to evacuate the injured and the dead. A total of 28 patients have been evacuated from Holy Cave to Advanced Dressing Station Nilagrar of whom 11 have further been moved to SKIMS Srinagar in civil helicopters for treatment while 15 dead bodies have been moved from Holy Cave to Nilagrar. Stranded Yatris are being escorted by Indian Army personnels till Baltal, since the track is slushy and slippery.
Simultaneously search was also commenced at daybreak at Amarnath Nar at Sangam for any possible casualties. Lt Gen ADS Aujla, GOC Chinar Corps and Maj Gen Sanjiv Singh Slaria, GOC Kilo Force visited the Holy Cave early in the morning to review the rescue and medical efforts being undertaken by the Indian Army. The GOC Chinar Corps also interacted with the Yatris and locals and assured of all possible help from Indian Army.
Citizens have been asked to contact on Army helpline number + 91 9149720998 for assistance/enquiry. Callers have been advised to have details of Yatris such as Name, Yatra registration / RFID number, Contact number, Aadhar number and the last known location and time.