Rescue operations in full swing to rescue missing mountaineers: DM Vijay Jogdande

Vijay Kumar Jogdande, District Magistrate Pithoragarh, on Saturday said that the administration is taking all the steps necessary to locate and help the mountaineers who are missing from the Nanda Devi trek.

"We received reports that few members of a mountaineering expedition for Nanda Devi East by Himalayan Run and Trekker organisation on May 31 were missing. A missing report for these mountaineers came to us yesterday. We immediately dispatched a team under SDM, Munshiari, which has team members from SDRF, medical team and locals for tracking," Jogdande told ANI here.

An eight-member team of mountaineers, including seven foreign nationals, has gone missing on its way to Nanda Devi East peak in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.

The team which has seven mountaineers from the U.K., the U.S. and Australia left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the 7,434-metre Nanda Devi peak.

Jogdande added that the administration had contacted the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and help from the forces too was being provided.

"We also contacted the 14th battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). A search and rescue team of the ITBP started rescue operations at 6 am in the morning. They have reached Martoli village which is approximately 25 kilometres away from the Nanda Devi," Jogdande said.

The DM added that the administration wanted to conduct an aerial survey to locate the missing mountaineers but the attempt failed due to unfavourable weather conditions.

"We also wanted to conduct an aerial survey to pinpoint their location. A helicopter took to the air but had to be recalled due to bad weather," he said.