Joint land operation to retrieve climbers' bodies

 A joint land operation has been launched to retrieve the bodies of Indian and foreign climbers who went missing while on an expedition to the Nanda Devi East peak in Uttarakhand after attempts made by IAF choppers failed, a state government official said on Thursday.

Pithoragarh District Magistrate V.K. Jogdande said the Indian Air Force helicopters on Thursday morning made two attempts to retrieve the five bodies but the bad weather and the tough topography of the region hampered the operation.

Following the failed attempts, a joint team of the NDRF, SDRF and ITBP has been formed to launch a land operation to retrieve the bodies. 

"We are hopeful of retrieving the bodies through trekking route," Jogdande said.

On Wednesday, three sorties were undertaken from Pithoragarh but the helicopters could not hover over and get down at the spot where the five bodies were found, he said.

Considering the tough terrain, the operation might extend beyond a week, Jogdande added.

On Monday, IAF helicopters spotted the bodies of five of the eight mountaineers who went missing at an unnamed location adjoining the Nanda Devi East peak. 

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.

The group had left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the peak but did not return to the base camp on the appointed date of May 25. 

The route to the peak begins from Munsiyari, about 132 km from the district headquarters.

The whereabouts of the three other bodies were not immediately known. IANS