Indian Air Force helicopters on Friday failed to find two female mountaineers from the US and Britain trapped at an altitude of 6000 meters in Chaukhamba in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, following which help was sought from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari appealed for help in searching for the climbers. The District Magistrate said that these two female climbers have been identified as Michelle Teresa Dvorak of America and Fav Jane Manners of Britain.
He said that Indian Air Force helicopters started their search operation at 8 am on Friday. However, they were neither able to find the climbers nor contact them. The District Magistrate said that a letter has been written to the Commandant of SDRF requesting him to help in the search and rescue operation of the mountaineers.
He told that this foreign mountaineering expedition was sent by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF). While climbing Chaukhamba-Teen mountain, situated at a total height of 6995 meters, on Thursday at 3 pm, the luggage and technical equipment of these climbers fell down from a height of 6015 meters in Chaukhamba, due to which they got stuck there.
As soon as Chamoli District Magistrate received information in this regard, he wrote a letter to the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) of the Indian Defense Ministry to start the rescue operation at 11 pm on Thursday night. Chaukhamba-teen mountain is situated behind Badrinath temple.
