Belagavi soldier has miraculous escape

Belagavi: A major from the 115 Mahar Regiment, Srihari Kugaji, who hails from Belagavi, had a miraculous escape when a deadly avalanche struck Gandherbal district in Jammu recently.  

Major Kugaji was among 98 Army personnel staying at the Sonamarg Army Camp at Gandherbal when the incident occured in which several soldiers died including Major Sagar. He spoke to Deccan Chronicle from Jammu where he is being treated for injuries  on his shoulder and head when he was caught in the avalanche that occured at 5.45 am on January 25. 

A team of Army personnel which was busy in evacuating those caught in the avalanche, heard the loud screams of Kugaji and dragged him to safely. He had to undergo a miserable 2-hour ordeal in the avalanche before the Army's evacuation team rescued him. Minutes after he was dragged out from the icy mountain, Kugaji spoke to his mother in Belagavi over phone and said he had a miraculous escape, says Kugaji's father Ananth Kugaji, a retired Army Subedar. “My son is extremely brave and never succumbs to pressure. Since his childhood, he has been participating in adventure camps and leading an adventurous lifestyle. From the way he described the ordeal, I am sure he would have died had he not been a daring child,'' Ananth says.

While Kugaji and his colleagues were struggling in the avalanche, the major remembered  an Army soldier who was caught in a massive avalanche last year and did not lose hope for several hours until he was spotted by the rescue team and saved. The rescue personnel luckily saw Kugaji waving even as his body was caught in the snow.