Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): A search and rescue team led by the Indian Air Force on Monday spotted five bodies of the eight missing mountaineers near the avalanche-hit Nanda Devi peak in Uttarakhand.
Eight climbers - four from Britain, two from the United States, and one each from Australia and India- were reported missing since Friday after they failed to return to their base camp near Nada Devi- the country's second highest mountain.
Mark Thomas, one of the other missing mountaineers who was rescued on Sunday along with three others, accompanied the IAF search team and was able to take photographs of the area where he had earlier spotted some rucksacks carried by the missing mountaineers.
Upon closer examination of the pictures taken during the sortie, Thomas was able to identify the five missing mountaineers bodies.
The group was attempting to scale a previously unclimbed and unnamed peak believed to be about 6,477 meters (21,250 feet) high, according to Facebook posts from the group's expedition company. The alarm was raised a few days after they failed to return to camp.
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A major search operation including two helicopters, drones and dozens of mountain rescuers has been in full swing, hampered however by poor weather and the remoteness of the area.
