Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Stranded Russian trekkers rescued in Uttarakhand

Joshimath/Dehradun, Oct 2: Four Russian trekkers and four Indian porters, who were stranded for over five days in Uttarakhand after heavy snowfall, have been rescued with the help of Air Force, said an official on Tuesday.

The group of eight was trapped in heavy snowfall as they were trekking through the Gangotri glacier to Badrinath in Uttarakhand.

The rescue operations began on Saturday and all the eight were rescued by Sunday evening, officials said.

"From Badrinath to Gangotri there is a high altitude trekking route. There has been a lot of snowing along that route in the past few days. And since it (the snowfall) has occurred before time, a lot of trekkers were stranded. A group of eight people in which four were Russians and four were Indian porters. These people have been rescued with the help of the Air Force," said Ashok Kumar, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Garhwal Range.

"No permission is being given to trekkers at present either for Uttarkashi or Chamoli," Kumar said, adding that "No other group is stranded as of now."

A team of German and Indian trekkers that was scheduled to take the same route as the Russian group has returned from the base camp after the snowfall, officials said.

Earlier rescue efforts were hampered as helicopters were snowed in and ground rescue teams could not reach the region, which lies at an altitude of between 18,000 and 21,000 feet (5,486 and 6,401 metres), the official said.

The hill state is a popular trekking destination.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/178982.php/Stranded-Russian-trekkers-rescued-in-Uttarakhand

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