In yet another swift humanitarian operation, the Indian Army on Wednesday evening rescued 150 tourists who were stranded amid heavy snowfall in North Sikkim, saving precious lives in sub-zero temperatures.
Unprecedented snowfall in a span of two hours cut off popular tourist destinations in Lachung Valley, rendering the tourists helpless. The troops of the Army's Trishakti Corps immediately launched quick-reaction teams, including medical personnel, to locate the tourists in stranded vehicles, provide medical care and bring them to the nearest Army camps.
In just four hours, soldiers, risking their lives, reached out to all stranded persons, bringing a sigh of relief to their distraught faces. A woman with a fractured hand was given immediate medical care; several other tourists complained of dizziness, breathlessness and other high altitude-related symptoms.
All the rescued tourists were being provided food, shelter and medical care at the Army camps, keeping in view the unabated snowfall and temperatures dipping down to -10 degree Celsius. The Indian Army revealed that the tourists rescued consisted of 105 men, 34 women and 11 children.
Choking with emotion, the tourists were short of words to thank the Indian Army soldiers, but the smiles on their faces said it all. According to Army sources, the rescue operations would continue with the aim of locating any other tourist in the area.
Previously, on December 28, 2018, the Indian Army had evacuated over 3,000 stranded tourists from Natula area in the biggest-ever rescue operation carried out in Sikkim. In fact, social media is still flooded with messages of the tourists rescued in that operation, expressing their gratitude to the soldiers who vacated their barracks and provided them with food, shelter and medical care.
