Jammu and Kashmir: Major rescue operation completed in Holy Cave: According to IAF Commodore Pankaj Mittal, 112 flights were carried out and 123 injured and 7 bodies were procured from the cave despite adverse weather conditions. He said that the Air Force has always played an important role in all operations wherever it comes to the safety and security of the common people.
Pankaj Mittal, Air Commodore, Air Force Station, Srinagar said, reiterating its past, a major rescue operation was carried out by the Indian Air Force in the Amarnath holy cave, and the operation is likely to be completed in the next 02-03 days.
Giving information about the rescue operation carried out by the Air Force, Air Commodore Pankaj Mittal said that 04 MI-17, 04 Cheetah and other ALH helicopters were used during the rescue operation.
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He said that the Indian Air Force has so far carried out a total of 112 missions during the rescue operation in the holy Amarnath cave and rescued 123 people from the holy cave and near Panjtarni area. He further said that during this operation 29 tonnes of load including equipment, NDRF rescue teams, engineers, dog squads etc. were sent to the holy cave area.
The Holy Amarnath Valley being very narrow with limited aerospace was difficult for large scale rescue missions but IAF managed everything and conducted the rescue mission successfully. The Air Commodore said it was a joint operation carried out by various agencies including Army, Police, Paramilitary forces, NDRF and civil administration.
Mittal said that the initial operation was very challenging, “Weather was a major constraint due to which we could not start the operation on the evening of 8th July when the major tragedy happened. The operation was started on the morning of 9th and in spite of the weather conditions With the challenges we managed to get through and conduct the rescue operations.