Braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Dies
NEW DELHI: Four days after he was discovered alive in what has been described as a miraculous rescue from Siachen, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, 33, died in hospital this morning. He is survived by his wife, Jayashri, and a two-year-old daughter.
While he fought for his life, the army had urged, “We hope the miracle continues…please pray with us.”Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, who was from Karnataka, spent six days buried alive under 25 feet of ice at the glacier after an avalanche came crashing down on the military post at Sonam.
Lance Naik Hanamanthappa was found in the fibre-reinforced hut that served as a base at 19,600 feet on the glacier. Lying next to him were the bodies of nine soldiers from his regiment.
He was then flown to the military hospital in Delhi where Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him yesterday, saying he brought “prayers from the entire nation.”
Rescue workers endured gruelling conditions for a courageous and tireless effort to find the 10 soldiers who went missing after the massive avalanche ripped over the post on February 3 in Siachen, known for its unforgiving environment.
The soldiers had been declared dead by the army and the government, partly why the discovery of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, who survived in an air pocket created under the ice, was dubbed “the Siachen miracle.”
