Soldiers of the Indian Army rescued a pregnant woman stuck in snowbound Kupwara in Kashmir and safely took her for about two km in knee-deep snow tol the hospital, the Indian Army said on Thursday.

Late on Tuesday, the Company Operating Base at Karalpura in Kupwara received a distress call from Manzoor Ahmed Sheikh saying that his wife Shabnam Begum was in labour pain and needed to be evacuated to the hospital immediately.

Also, due to heavy snowfall and inclement weather, neither a community health service vehicle nor civil transport was available and the same was possible only after the snow was cleared from the road.

Understanding the gravity of the situation and the plight of the family, Army troops at Karalpura along with battlefield nursing assistant and medical comforts reached the spot in time.

The troops escorted the woman and the family for about two km in knee-deep snow till the road head, from where she was taken to Karalpura hospital. On reaching the hospital the woman was immediately attended to by the medical staff which was coordinated beforehand by the Army with the civil administration.

"The family and the civil administration thanked the unit for its humanitarian efforts and recognised the Army as the true friend of Awam at the time of distress. The father came to the Company Operating Base to distribute sweets to all troops after being blessed with a boy," the Arny said in a statement.

The force so far has evacuated more than two-dozen pregnant women from the snow-bound areas in Kashmir.

(IANS)