ITBP joining operations to retrieve climbers' bodies

Well-versed and equipped to carry out high-altitude rescue operations, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will join the efforts to retrieve the bodies of eight national and foreign climbers who went missing while on an expedition to Nanda Devi, an official said on Tuesday.

The operation will be launched by the district administration of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh in a day or two, depending on the weather conditions. 

ITBP's PRO Vivek Pandey told IANS that the district administration had sent a request for the ITBP to join the effort. 

"We have high-altitude mountaineers who are well-equipped and trained to carry out such operations.

"The district administration has held several meetings with the Indian Air Force and the the ITBP. The operation to retrieve the bodies will be through a helicopter-borne sling," he said. 

Five bodies were spotted during aerial reconnaissance. But when the rescue team will descend in the area, then hopefully, more bodies could be found, he said.

The eight mountaineers were from Britain, the US, Australia, as well as India, and were reported to be heading towards Nanda Devi East at around 20,000 feet.

On Monday, rescue pilots also spotted equipment, backpacks and bodies - open and partially buried in snow - near the unclimbed peak. IANS