NEW DELHI: Two foreign women mountaineers,
Michelle Theresa Dvorak
from the USA and Fay Jane Manners from the United Kingdom, were safely rescued on Sunday morning. The
mountaineers
were stranded at 6,015 metres while attempting to reach
Chaukhamba III
peak in
Uttarakhand
's Chamoli district.
They were evacuated through a joint operation by the Indian Air Force (IAF), the
State Disaster Response Force
(SDRF), and the State Disaster Management Authority.
The
rescue
efforts began on Friday, with two IAF helicopters searching for the stranded
climbers
. Climbing-trained SDRF personnel joined the operation on Saturday, which faced challenges due to fog and adverse weather conditions. The mountaineers became stranded after their bag containing food and essential climbing gear fell into a gorge during their ascent.
Rescued mountaineers with the evacuation team (PTI image)
Michelle Theresa Dvorak from the US and Fay Jane Manners from the UK, both experienced climbers, sent a message via pager to their liaison officer, saying their bag with food and vital gear had fallen into a gorge. They were not been heard from since.
The duo had embarked on their
expedition
from Delhi on Sept 15, accompanied by Shweta Sharma, a liaison officer from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), which regulates climbing activities in India.
Read also: Race against time: IAF helicopters search for 2 missing US & UK climbers
English (US) ·