The snow-preserved body of an Indian soldier was cremated here on Thursday, 40 years after he died in a plane crash in the Himalayas.
Lohchabka (Haryana), Aug 23 : The snow-preserved body of an Indian soldier was cremated here on Thursday, 40 years after he died in a plane crash in the Himalayas.
Indian soldiers discovered the frozen bodies of Hardass Singh and two other victims half-buried in snow on a glacier at an altitude of 17,500 feet on a search earlier this month.
The corpses were discovered close to where an army plane crashed on February 7, 1968 in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh.
Singh's body was handed over to his family on Thursday itself, and his last rites were performed in his native Lohchbaka village here.
Shanti Devi, Singh's widow, had spent 40 years struggling to survive on a meagre pension and a somewhat quivering belief that her husband would return.
"I waited for him for 10-15 years. No one confirmed that he was dead. We thought he might have gone to some other area and would return home some day. I spent 40 years waiting for him," she said.
Singh's relatives said they remembered him as a dedicated soldier.
"He always tried to maintain a high standard of moral courage and dedication towards his job and country," said Bhup Singh, Hardass Singh's relative.
Singh was among the 102 passengers who died after an AN-12 aircraft that was carrying them from Chandigarh to Leh, crashed.
ANI