Dehra Dun, Oct 05: Within a month of nine ITBP mountaineers dying after scaling Panchachuli peak, another mountaineer was killed and four were injured while returning after successfully climbing the peak in Pithoragarh district of Uttaranchal, army sources said today. Seventeen other mountaineers were stranded in the area due to bad weather but were safe, they said.

The five mountaineers of Kumaon regiment were returning after scaling the peak yesterday when the rope through which they were descending snapped killing one of them and injuring the rest, the sources said. Helicopters were trying to evacuate the injured mountaineers to Ranikhet, the headquarters of regiment, and rescue the ones stranded at Panchachuli due to bad weather, they said.

On September 20, nine members of an ITBP mountaineering team had died in an avalanche while descending after scaling the Panchachuli peak.

Bureau Report