Army rescues 2 patients stranded at 10,000 ft

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 22

The Army today rescued two patients, including a pregnant woman, who were stranded at a remote mountainous pass at an altitude of 10,000 ft in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

The two patients, along with seven others, were travelling in an ambulance from the Tangdhar area last evening when the vehicle got stranded at Nastachung Pass – located at an altitude of 10,000 ft — due to a landslide, the Army said in a statement.

“The ambulance could not move to Chowkibal or return to Tangdhar because of landslides on either side,” it said.

Tangdhar is a remote mountainous area in Kupwara district and is located along the Line of Control.

The Army said the decreasing temperature at the mountainous pass could have proven fatal for one of the patients, Waheeda Mir, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy and suffers from anaemia. The second patient, 15-year-old Madsoor Ahmad, had to undergo a surgery for a stomach ailment.

The Army said its rescue team reacted swiftly and cleared the way for the ambulance to return to Tangdhar. It said the rescue team also provided medical relief and care to the patients.