Siachen braveheart Hanumanthappa passes away

Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who survived after being buried under an avalanche in Siachen, died in army hospital at 11.45 am on Thursday. A billion prayers were behind him but Siachen hero Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad lost the battle for life on Thursday. Koppad was receiving treatment at the Army Research and Referral Hospital by a team of intensivists, neurologist, nephrologist, endocrinologist and surgeons. “Lance Naik Hanamanthappa is no more. He breathed his last at 11:45am today (Thursday),” a senior army official said. Koppad and nine other soldiers were swept away by an avalanche at the Siachen glacier on February 3, at an altitude of around 20,500 feet. He was found on Monday, miraculously alive but in critical condition.