Kupwara, Jan 7 (IANS) Soldiers of the Indian Army rescued a pregnant woman stuck in snowbound Kupwara in Kashmir and safely took her for about two kilometres in knee-deep snow till the hospital, the Indian Army said on Thursday.
Late on Tuesday, the Company Operating Base at Karalpura in Kupwara received a distress call from Manzoor Ahmed Sheikh saying that informed that his wife Shabnam Begum is undergoing labour pain and needs to be evacuated to the hospital immediately.
Also, due to heavy snowfall and inclement weather, neither community health service vehicle nor civil transport was available and the same was possible only after snow was cleared from the road.
Understanding the gravity of the situation and the plight of the family, the army troops at Karalpura along with battlefield nursing assistant and medical comforts, reached the spot on time.
The troops escorted the woman and the family for about 2 km in knee deep snow till the road head, from where she was taken to Karalpura hospital. On reaching the hospital the woman was immediately attended to by the medical staff which was coordinated beforehand by the Army with the civil administration.
“The family and the civil administration thanked the unit for its humanitarian efforts and recognised the Army as the true friend of Awam at the time of distress. The father came to the Company Operating Base to distribute sweets to all troops after being blessed with a boy,” the force said.
The force so far has evacuated more than two dozen pregnant women from the snow-bound areas in Kashmir.