Army team rescues Russian skier in Gulmarg

Srinagar, Feb 28 (IANS) The Indian army on Sunday rescued a Russian skier from the Gulmarg ski resort in Jammu and Kashmir after he lost control and fell into a gorge at the Apharwat skiing heights.

"The 33-year old Dimitry Lobanov of Russia was rescued by a team of the army’s High Altitude Warfare School from the upper reaches of Apharwat in Gulmarg area," Colonel S.D. Goswami, spokesman of the army’s Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command, told IANS.

"Lobanov was a part of a group of six Russians who went skiing in the higher reaches at Apharwat where he fell into a gorge covered in snow.

"The skier suffered multiple fractures due to the fall," Goswami said.

"After a distress call, the rescue team reached the accident site, rescued him and evacuated him after administering first aid, via Khilanmarg to the army medical inspection room at Gulmarg," the spokesman said

"The rescue team had to trudge through thick snow for six km to reach the medical post where Lobanov was resuscitated and his medical condition stabilised by the army doctors," he added.