Indian Army rescues 150 tourists stranded in Sikkim snow; army answers SOS

Gangtok, Jan 10: The Army on Wednesday carried out an operation to rescue stranded tourists from North Sikkim amidst heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures.

Stranded tourists amidst heavy snowfall:

"We rescued stranded tourists amidst heavy snowfall in North Sikkim. Unprecedented snowfall in a span of two hours had cut off the popular tourist destinations in Lachung Valley, rendering the tourists helpless. The troops of Trishakti Corps immediately launched Quick Reaction Teams (QRT) including medical staff to locate the tourists in stranded vehicles, provide medical care and bring them to the nearest army camps," said a senior official of the Army Eastern Command.

Tourists suffer High-altitude sickness

Among the stranded tourists, there were some elderly people and children who complained of dizziness, breathlessness and other high altitude related symptoms.

Army had earlier evacuated over 3,000 stranded tourists from Nathula area:

This is the second such rescue operations that have been carried out in this winter. On December 28, 2018, Indian Army soldiers had evacuated over 3,000 stranded tourists from Nathula area in the biggest ever rescue operation carried out in Sikkim.

Tourists rescued from Sikkim snow

More than 2,500 tourists, many of them from Calcutta, were stranded along the route to Nathu-la and Changu Lake in east Sikkim on Friday after heavy snowfall made returning to Gangtok perilous for vehicles skidding on ice and slime.