By Tanisha Mohanty
Three Army soldiers lost their lives after an avalanche collided with the military base camp in Ladakh on Tuesday. The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday but was confirmed two days later. Rescue teams, along with helicopters, were immediately dispatched and the bodies of the personnel were found after five hours.
The victims include Sepoy M Kumar, Neeraj Kumar Choudhary and D Rakesh. Hailing from Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand, the soldiers were part of the Mahar unit, two of them were recruited under the 2022 Agnipath Scheme. They were located near the Line of Control (LoC), known to be the “world’s highest battlefield”; the avalanche buried the soldiers in snow for hours.
The Fire and Fury corps posted a message on X, commemorating the martyrs,“GOC, Fire and Fury Corps and All Ranks salute Sepoy Mohit Kumar, Agniveer Niraj Kumar Choudhary and Agniveer Dabhi Rakesh Devabhai, who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty in #Siachen on 09 Sep 2025, and offer deep condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief.”
The avalanche-prone Siachen area stretches up to 76 km. The heavy snowfall and temperatures as low as -60 degree celsius, creates precarious conditions for soldiers stationed there. The harsh climate and frequent snowslides have claimed many lives over the years.
This has led to 870 victims since India gained control of the high-altitude Siachen area in 1984, as part of Operation Meghdoot. The most fatalities were observed in 2022. The bodies of seven soldiers were found after three days of rescue operations in a similar episode in Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh. More fatalities were seen in Siachen glacier, Kashmir and other North Eastern parts of the country.
In 2021, two army men lost their lives in the Haneef region located in Kargil. The year 2019 saw the demise of six personnel, stationed at about 18,000 feet. In 2016 as well, four soldiers were killed during a routine patrol in a similar fashion.