Bengal to send three-member team to Kathmandu to rescue mountaineers

The West Bengal government has decided to send a three-member team to Kathmandu on Tuesday to supervise the rescue operation of the climbers from the state, Sports Minister Aroop Biswas said.

"A total of 11 climbers from Bengal went on the Mt Everest expedition this time. Eight of them have successfully scaled Mt Everest. We are sending a three-member team to Kathamandu on Tuesday to supervise the rescue operation of the climbers," he said.

The team, led by state Sports Secretary S.A. Baba, will also comprise Joint Secretary Mukesh Singh and state police officer Ujjal Roy, who is an Everest conqueror.

The husband-wife duo of Pradeep and Chetna Sahoo and fellow climber Debraj Dutta had scaled the peak on Thursday morning, while Malay Mukherjee, Satyarup Siddhanta, Rudra Prasad Halder, Ramesh Roy and Subhas Pal reached the summit on Saturday morning.

"Subhas Pal is no more with us," Biswas said.

Sunita Hazra, Gautam Ghosh and Paresh Nath had to turn back after reaching close to their target because of inclement weather conditions and physical problems.

"Sunita Hazra has been hospitalised in Kathmandu and her condition is stable. Ghosh and Nath are still missing. Others are safe," Biswas said.

The state government had sent another team comprising experienced climbers Dipankar Ghosh and Debdas Nandi to bring back another Bengal climber Rajib Bhattacharya who died on Mount Dhaulagiri during descent in a separate expedition.

--IANS

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