Gopeshwar, Oct 5 (PTI) Four SDRF mountaineers arrived at the base camp of Chaukhamba III peak on Saturday to trace the foreign mountaineers stranded at an elevation of more than 6,000 metres as IAF helicopters searching for them returned empty-handed for the second consecutive day.
Chamoli District Disaster Management officer N K Joshi said IAF helicopters made several sorties to trace the women mountaineers, one from the USA and the other from the UK, but they could not be spotted.
A four-member team of SDRF personnel trained in mountaineering has landed at the base camp located at a height of around 5,000 metres to assist in the search operations, he said, adding the strategy is to search for them on foot.
Information about the mountaineers being stranded on the way to the peak was received by the district authorities in Gopeshwar on Thursday after which a requisition was made for IAF helicopters to help in the search and rescue operation.
Search operations resumed on Saturday to trace the mountaineers after two Indian Air Force helicopters returned empty-handed after a daylong operation on Friday.
Michelle Theresa Dvorak of the USA and Fav Jane Manners of the United Kingdom got stranded at a height of 6,015 metres on their way to Chaukhamba III peak located at 6,995 metres after their logistical and technical equipment fell down, the state emergency operations centre here said.
Dvorak and Manners were part of a foreign mountaineering expedition by the India Mountaineering Foundation. The expedition had begun on September 18 and was to conclude on October 18. PTI COR ALM ALM NSD NSD
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