New Delhi: Braving deathly conditions on an altitude of 20,000 in the Himalayas, the 15 'Daredevils' of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) successfully retrieved the bodies of seven deceased mountaineers after a 500-hour-long struggle, and handed them over to their families.
It was a herculean task for the ITBP jawans to retrieve the bodies of eights mountaineers who were snowed down at an altitude of 20,000 feet near the Nanda Devi East peak in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.
Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, ITBP spokesperson Vivek Pandey said, "In a rare search and retrieval mission codenamed 'Daredevils l', the ITBP mountaineers retrieved seven dead bodies near Nanda Devi East in Pithoragarh after a 500-hour-operation at a high altitude."
The team of Daredevils was led by Ratan Singh Sonal, second in command.
"This was one of the most difficult retrieval operations in the world at such an altitude and typical terrain," Pandey said.
One Indian national and mountaineers from three other countries had lost their lives during the expedition.
Pandey said that 12 mountaineers were on an expedition in Pithoragarh district since May 13, in an attempt to scale Nanda Devi East peak. However, on May 30, the Pithoragarh district administration got an SOS call.
"In the rescue efforts, four British mountaineers were airlifted from Nanda Devi base camp on June 2, who were part of the 12 member team," said Pandey.
The ITBP had launched a search operation on June 14 from Pithoragarh for the mission.
"After acclimatization, the ITBP mountaineers reached the site through technical climbing as the terrain conditions were very difficult due to the steep gradient, snow accumulations and wind conditions," Pandey said.
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Ultimately, the ITBP team retrieved seven dead bodies on June 23.
"The team tried to locate the eighth body as well, but due to the harsh terrain, altitude, and weather limitations, it was not found," Pandey added.
Pandey informed that ITBP is planning to deploy five high altitude rescue teams comprising of mountaineers of the force in the five Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The ITBP has been primarily deployed on the India China border since its inception in 1962. The force has saved more than 33,000 people from extreme danger in the Uttarakhand deluge in 2013 using their mountaineering skills.
