Israeli national stuck over 16000 ft in Ladakh rescued by Indian Air Force

Leh: The Indian Air Force on Wednesday evacuated an Israeli national stuck at at altitude of 16,800 ft in Ladakh's GongmaruLa Pass. The Israeli national, Atar Kahana, was suffering from high-altitude sickness, including vomiting and low oxygen saturation. The PRO (Defence) of Srinagar in a twitter post said, "Indian Air Force - 114 Helicopter Unit, evacuated Israeli national, suffering from high altitude sickness, from #GongmaruLa Pass, at an altitude of 16800 ft in #Ladakh".

Indian Air Force - 114 Helicopter Unit, evacuated Israeli national, suffering from high altitude sickness, from #GongmaruLa Pass, at an altitude of 16800 ft in #Ladakh #Leh #Israel @IsraelinIndia @IAF_MCC @DefenceMinIndia @PIB_India @ddnewsladakh @PBLadakh @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/HAhGJzoqLC

— PRO Defence Srinagar (@PRODefSrinagar) August 31, 2022

"On 31 August 2022, 114 Helicopter Unit received a call for casualty evacuation from Nimaling Camp near Markha Valley. The Israeli national, Atar Kahana, was suffering from high-altitude sickness, including vomiting and low oxygen saturation," a Srinagar-based defence spokesman said.

Following the shortest route, the Casevac aircrafts reached the spot within 20 minutes of flying time and spotted the casualty on the Gongmaru La pass at an elevation of 16800 feet. The No.1 air crew carried out a thorough recce, landed at the pass with the assistance of No. 2 and picked up the casualty from the pass in turbulent weather conditions. According to the statement, the casualty was recovered expeditiously within the limited time of 1 hour at Air Force Station Leh. 

A similar incident took place on August 20 when the IAF rescued an Israeli national from a high-altitude area in Ladakh as he was suffering from acute mountain sickness and having difficulty in breathing. A statement, issued by a Srinagar-based spokesperson said "Today 114 Helicopter Unit received a call for Causevic (Casualty Evacuation) from Nima ling Camp near Markha valley. The statement reads that Noam Gil, an Israeli national was suffering from acute mountain sickness and was having difficulty breathing in the high-altitude area.