Nanda Devi: Search for eighth tourist cancelled due to bad weather, says official

The search for the eighth missing mountaineer was cancelled on Saturday due to bad weather, informed Pithoragarh official.

"Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) rescue team has successfully recovered bodies of seven mountaineers, who were hit by an avalanche near Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand. Today two sorties were carried out to search the eighth body, but it is not possible to continue right now due to bad weather," said VK Jogdande, DM Pithoragarh.

These tourists were hit by an avalanche on May 26 and were missing since then. The bodies were traced at an altitude of approximately 21,000 feet near the peak from where the mountaineers reportedly went missing. They were on an expedition to a Nanda Devi East peak when they met the tragic fate.

A 10-member team of ITBP dug out the seven bodies, including that of a woman mountaineer, from under the snow. The ITBP had launched search operation last week to search for the missing mountaineers in which 4 were British, 2 were Americans, and 1 each from Australia and India.

The attempt to rescue the trapped mountaineers from Nanda Devi East is named Operation Daredevil. Standing at a height of 7,816 metres, Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in India and 23rd highest overall.