Jammu: Braving difficult terrain, the people of two remote villages of Kishtwar were the first responder to rescue the wounded pilots and Aviation Systems Technician (AVN Tech) of the Army on Thursday when the Army’s Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Dhruv crash-landed on the banks of Marua rivulet in Sumbal village of Kishtwar.
“The villagers in Sumbal were busy in their daily chores when they heard a deafening sound from the river bank,” District Development Council (DDC) Marwah member Sheikh Zaffarullah told Greater Kashmir.
He said that though the villagers were unable to immediately inform the administration or Police due to the absence of mobile phone connectivity in the area, they relied on traditional resources to inform the concerned authorities.
“As soon as the villagers from nearby village of Machna and Tiller heard the sound, they ran toward Sumbal and found a chopper on the banks of rivulet and found the two pilots and the AVN Tech inside the chopper,” Zafarullah said.
He said that the people from these two villages were the first ones to reach the accident spot and rescued the wounded pilots and AVN Tech, who succumbed later.
Eyewitnesses said that Muhammed Sultan of Machna village was one of the first rescuers who with the help of others safely shifted the injured to a safer place following which the Army from the nearby camp and a Police team from Police Station Nawapachi also reached the spot.
Zafarullah said that Police Station Nawapachi is around 4 km away from the accident spot.
“The area is away from any road and there is no mobile connectivity. The road connectivity ends at Hynan village via Sinthan Margan,” he said.
SSP Kishtwar, Khalil Poswal praised the locals for the rescue operation.
“The Police team reached the incident spot within 20 minutes and with the help of locals, who were already there, launched the rescue operation,” he said.