Published Oct 01, 2024 | 1:30 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 04, 2024 | 5:40 PM
Thomas Cherian's body recovered from Rohtang pass
After more than five decades of uncertainty and heartache, Thomas Cherian’s family’s long wait for closure has finally come to an end.
The body of Thomas Cherian, who was among 101 passengers aboard an Indian Air Force’s transport aircraft AN-12 that crashed in the snow-covered mountains near Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh on 7 February 1968, while flying from Chandigarh to Leh, was recovered on Monday, 30 September.
Cherian was one of the four bodies retrieved by mountaineering teams, led by the Army’s Dogra Scouts, from the Dhaka Glacier area at a height of nearly 16,000 feet on Monday.
The discovery brought closure to Thomas Cherian’s family, who had spent 56 years awaiting news of his fate.
The discovery brought closure to Cherian’s family in Pathanamthitta district, who had spent 56 years awaiting news of his fate.
Cherian, who was 22 at the time and the second of five children of Odalil Thomas and Eliyamma, had joined the Army as a craftsman after completing his pre-university studies in Pathanamthitta.
His family had been clinging to the hope of closure ever since the crash was confirmed in 2003, but it took another two decades before his body was found.
Speaking to the media, Thomas Cherian’s younger brother Thomas Varghese recalled, “It has been 35 years since my father passed away, and 28 since my mother. My mother always cried after my brother went missing.”
The family also shared that they first learned of the recovery of Cherian’s body when Aranmula police visited their home on Monday evening to collect details and confirm their address. The family later got confirmation from the Army itself.
The Indian Air Force’s AN-12 aircraft, built by the former Soviet Union, went missing on 7 February 1968, after the pilot decided to turn back due to bad weather while en route to Leh from Chandigarh, according to reports. The plane made its last radio contact while flying over the Rohtang Pass.
It was in July 2003, during the Chandrabhaga expedition, organised by the Manali Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, that the wreckage of the AN-12 was first discovered. It was spread over a 5-kilometer area, often subject to heavy snowfall.
The remains and documents of Pioneer Beli Ram were found beneath the South Dakka Glacier near Kunzum Pass, making him the first victim of the crash to be discovered.
Since then, pressure from the families of the other passengers and crew has led the army to conduct expeditions every summer in search of more remains.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
