Nanda Devi base camp: 4 ITBP trekkers, 5 IAF personnel join search op

Search teams have rescued four foreign mountaineers from Nanda Devi peak base camp in Pithoragarh on Sunday. The rescued mountaineers were a part of the 12-mountaineers team, of which eight mountaineers are still missing.

Uttarakhand:Four highly-trained trekkers from the Indo-Tibetan Police Force (ITBP) and five personnel from the Indian Air Force took off from Munsyari on Wednesday at 5 am in an ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) to join the search operation of missing foreign tourists at Nanda Devi Base Camp.

However, operation Daredevils postponed due to terrain elevations & limitations of the helicopter. After 3 attempts, the helicopter is back in Pithoragarh. Height restricts it to operate. Next strategy is being deliberated in Pithoragarh.

ITBP on Sunday rescued four of the 12 missing members of a Nanda Devi mountaineering team on the second day of the search operation.

Zachary Qauin (32), Kate Armstrone (39), Ian Wade (45) and Mark Taomas (44), all belonging to the United Kingdom (UK), were sent to Pithoragarh from Nanda Devi base camp with the help of an Indian Air Force helicopter. They were administered first aid at the helipad.

The team had left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the 7,434-metre Nanda Devi peak.