E-Paper
Operation to locate missing Arunachal mountaineers called off due to bad weather
Tapi Mra, who climbed Mount Everest in 2009, and Niku Dao were attempting to scale Chiumo mountain peak located 6,890 metres above the sea when they went missing on August 17
The operation to locate two mountaineers, who went missing near the frontier with China in Arunachal Pradesh in August, has been called off due to bad weather.
Tapi Mra, who climbed Mount Everest in 2009, and Niku Dao were attempting to scale Chiumo mountain peak located 6,890 metres above the sea when they went missing on August 17.
Authorities in Arunachal’s East Kameng district came to know about the missing mountaineers on August 27. “Based on the feedback from the search and rescue teams, we found the weather and geography is extremely dangerous at the moment and there is no way we can guarantee the safety of the rescue teams. Keeping these things in mind, we have decided to call off the operations,” East Kameng deputy commissioner PA Polumatla said on Wednesday.
Satellite imagery, drones, and helicopters were earlier also unsuccessfully deployed to trace the mountaineers, who are from Arunachal Pradesh.
Major LP Singh, who led to rescue operations, said they carried out the operation amid continuous rainfall and poor visibility. “Our helicopters carried out several search attempts and dropped a team at the height of 15,000 feet from where the mountaineers were missing.”
Polumatla said it takes two weeks to trek to the base camp of the mountain. “We have done everything humanly possible to locate the mountaineers over the past three weeks. But it is unfortunate that we could not locate them. In the interest of the safety of the rescue team, we have to call off this mission.”
