"We get more than 100 casualties every year just due to terrain, weather conditions, avalanches... There is constant danger," said retired Lt Gen DS Hooda, who until 2016 headed India's Northern Command. Seventeen other troops critically injured in the clashes, which lasted until after midnight, were "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain" and succumbed to their injuries, the army said. "With such low oxygen plus the weather plus the smoking, the chances of getting a heart attack shoot up," Dinny added. The cold and the high altitude affects eyesight, adding to troops' disorientation.

Source: Bangkok Post June 20, 2020 08:15 UTC