Shimla: According to officials three trekkers died after getting caught in the snowstorm in the Himachal Pradesh Kinnaur district. Ten other trekkers who were part of the expedition have been rescued, they added.
The group of 13 trekkers – 12 from Maharashtra and 1 from West Bengal – has started their expedition from Rohru to Kinnaur on October 17. The trekkers got stranded in an area called Burua Kanda due to heavy snowfall in the region.
Seventeen trekkers have gone missing in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The trekkers had left Harshil in adjoining Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi for Chitkul in HP’s Kinnaur on October 14, but they reportedly went missing during inclement weather from October 17 to 19 in Lamkhaga pass, he said.
The Lamkhaga Pass is one of the toughest passes which connects Kinnaur district with Harshil in Uttrakhand.
Police and Forest Department teams, and a quick response team have been sent to the spot, Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq said.
‘3 missing porters found dead in Uttarakhand’
Three porters, who went missing while accompanying an ITBP team on a long-distance patrol along the Indo-China border, were found dead in the district on Wednesday, officials said.
The porters apparently lost their way while returning from the patrol and got separated from the ITBP team, District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.
They were supposed to reach the ITBP post at Neelapani on Monday but due to snowfall on mountain peaks, they did not return even on Tuesday evening. So the force sought the help of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Disaster Management Department to trace them, the officer said.
ITBP Matli 12 Battalion Commandant Abhijit Samaiyar confirmed the death of the porters, saying they were buried under snow.
He said an operation will be launched on Thursday to recover their bodies and hand them over to their kin who are waiting in Matli.
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