Grisly details emerge from Galwan

SRINAGAR: The bodies of the Army personnel killed by the Chinese had some extreme injury marks, with some of them dying of hypothermia and asphyxiation. The post-mortem of the bodies of the 20 personnel was conducted at SNM hospital in Leh. Officials said some of them had brutal injury marks on faces and other body parts, confirming the reports that suggested that the Chinese Army used clubs studded with nails during the physical combat with the Indian Army. “Around 17 soldiers had extreme violence marks on their bodies. The officers present in the hospital and Army base were directed to not click pictures of the bodies,” a senior official, aware of the details, told ET. The preliminary reports reveal that three personnel, including Colonel Santosh Babu, had no injury marks on their body but had blunt injury marks on their head. “The three may have died of drowning. However, others had punctures all over their bodies. Faces of at least three soldiers were unrecognisable and three others had slit marks on their neck,” said another officer privy to the details. “It seemed that nails were pierced. Chinese were carrying knives. Some of them may have fallen in the river as well, which is very cold at that height,” said another official. The inhospitable and freezing battlefield of Galwan Valley, at the height of over 14,000 feet, thus added to the casualties.“Around 12 soldiers after receiving injuries died of hypothermia and asphyxiation,” another official told ET. A senior official said many personnel, who were injured in a confrontation earlier near Pangong Lake, were later treated at the Army hospital.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2UYeDHm