E-Paper
Lamkhaga Pass: Five of 11 missing trekkers found dead, 2 rescued
The Lamkhaga Pass, which is at an altitude of 5,282m, connects Kinnaur in Himachal with Harshil in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district; the trekkers had gone missing on October 17 and 18
Five climbers that were part of an 11-member trekking team, which had gone missing during a snowstorm on the Lamkhaga Pass between October 17 and 18, were found dead on Thursday.
A team of the army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police were able to locate five bodies and rescue two stranded members of the trekking team. “The five bodies were found at different places but could not be airlifted due to inclement weather. The identity of the victims will be known once the bodies are brought down. Four people are still missing and search operation to trace them is on,” said Kinnaur deputy commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq, adding that the bodies were found scattered below the pass in Uttarakhand and the rescue mission will be resumed at 6.30am on Friday.
“The rescue teams had left for Lamkhaga Pass at 4:30am from both the Kinnaur and Uttarkashi side. They found two people alive, including one tourist. The tourist has been airlifted to Uttarkashi and the guide, who was handed over to the army, will be flown to Uttarkashi on Friday,” said Sadiq.
The pass, which is at an altitude of 5,282m, connects Kinnaur in Himachal with Harshil in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district. The group comprised eight tourists – seven from Kolkata and one from New Delhi – and three cooks from Uttarakhand.
“The team had embarked on the trek from Harshil in Uttarkashi district and was supposed to reach Chhitkul village in Kinnaur on October 19,” said Sadiq.
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force has identified the members of the trekking group as Mithun Dari, 31; Tanmay Tiwari, 30; Vikash Makal, 33; Saurav Ghosh, 34; Saviayan Das, 28; Richard Mandal, 30; and Suken Manjhi, 43, of Kolkata; and Anita Rawat, 38, of Delhi.
The cooks accompanying the ream were Devendra, 37; Gyan Chandra, 33; and Upendra, 32. They all belonged to Purola area of Uttarkashi.
