Team of trekkers rescued from Himachal-U'khand border; one from Maharashtra dead

A man from Maharashtra, who was part of a trekking team that got stranded during a trek from Har Ki Doon in Uttarkashi district to Chitkul in Himachal Pradesh, has died while the rest of the trekkers have been rescued and brought to the base camp at Kalpa, officials said today.

There were two Mexican nationals among the trekkers, they added.

Harshad Hafte (34) from Maharashtra fell ill on the way to Chitkul in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, due to which the entire team got stranded near the Borasu pass located at a height of 17,500 feet, Purola Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Puran Singh Rana said.

On June 11, one of the trekkers gave a distressed call to a nearby Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) posts.

By the time the rescue teams reached the spot where the trekkers were stranded, Hafte had died, the SDM said, quoting ITBP officials at Chitkul.

The rest of the trekkers, including the two Mexicans, one from Faridabad in Haryana, nine from Maharashtra, one trek leader, one guide and eight porters, have all been rescued and brought to the base camp at Kalpa (Himachal Pradesh), he added.

There were four women in the trekking team.

It takes seven-eight days to complete the 90-km trek from Sankri to Chitkul via Har Ki Doon, the SDM said.

When contacted, ITBP spokesperson Vivek K Pandey said in New Delhi that multiple teams of about 50 personnel of the force had launched the rescue operations and succeeded in establishing contact with the guide of the private trekking expedition.

A rescue team comprising State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police personnel had also been dispatched from Uttarkashi to the spot where the trekkers got stranded, the SDM said.