Colonel (Retd) Neeraj Rana was a Counter Insurgency Officer having carried out missions in Nagaland among other violence-hit states of India. After serving 24 years with the Indian Army, he retired to set up his own adventure company that takes his clients to the Everest. But on April 25, 2015 when a deadly earthquake-struck Nepal, the former Indian army man found himself right where all the action was – a few metres above the Everest base camp where a deadly avalanche wreaked havoc. Col Rana met Sai Manish at the Lukla airstrip while organizing an evacuation of his clients. He recounts what he saw on the day and how he managed to help others and himself make it down to safety.
I was leading one of the Indian groups of 7 people. We were just a few meters above the base camp so we were not hit by the avalanche. Down from Gorakshep most trekkers got hit. Most of our clients were much higher at camp 1 and camp 2. Had it not been so, we would have been hit
Nobody knew what happened when earthquake struck. We were not hit at all. We organized 10 sherpas and couple of people from our group. We took whatever medication with us and rushed to the base camp. When we reached the base camp, there were people crying for help. There were dead bodies strewn all around. Tents had been blown off. There was a sense of chaos there. The first injured guy we met was Japanese. He was badly injured. The bones on his legs had been smashed. He had head wounds. We made cardboard splints for his legs, gave him some morphine and other painkillers and shifted him to a medical tent. He died later and could do nothing more for him. By the time we finished with the Japanese man, it was seven in the evening. By that time the survivors at the camp had organized themselves. We had only morphine and painkillers in addition to IVs, nothing else.
We had two choppers of our own company. I asked my team to walk down to Pheriche. The first priority was to rescue the injured. For two days, I was helping people from Camp 1 and Camp 2. I organized people to come down. The Gorkha regiment of the British army was also struck there. We got them down one by one. After rescuing most of the people, I was told to take the chopper down to Pheriche.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}