ITBP finds bodies of seven missing mountaineers near Nanda Devi

Image Courtesy: ANI

A 32-member team of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Sunday recovered seven bodies of the mountaineers near an unnamed peak near Nanda Devi East. The ITBP said in a tweet thaat recovered bodies include a woman and an Indian. The ITBP said that the search for 8th missing mountaineer will be carried out on Monday. The ITBP team has also recovered some mountaineering equipment from the site.

"ITBP mountaineers recovered 7 bodies of the mountaineers near an unnamed peak near Mount #NandaDevi East today including a woman and an Indian. Search for 8th missing mountaineer will be carried out tomorrow. Some mountaineering equipment also recovered from the site #Himveers," ITBP tweeted.

#ITBP mountaineers recovered 7 bodies of the mountaineers near an unnamed peak near Mount #NandaDevi East today including a woman and an Indian. Search for 8th missing mountaineer will be carried out tomorrow. Some mountaineering equipment also recovered from the site #Himveers pic.twitter.com/ceaKnvQ4jN — ITBP (@ITBP_official) June 23, 2019

ITBP DIG A P D Nimbadia said that the seven bodies were dug out by the ITBP from under the snow. He added that Indian Air Force helicopters also assisted in the operation, named 'Daredevil', which was launched a week ago to search for the eight missing mountaineers. Sources told Zee Media that the recovered bodies were kept at the temporary camp set up at 17,800 feet on Sunday and the operation to bring the recovered bodies to Base Camp 2 through helicopters will start on Monday. 

Led by well-known British mountaineer Martin Moran, the team went missing recently on way to the 7434-metre-high Nanda Devi East peak in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district. The eight mountaineers had left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the peak but they failed to return to the base camp on the appointed date of May 25. It is believed that the mountaineers may have fallen victims to a sudden avalanche in the area. The operation to find the missing mountaineers was launched on June 13.