The Air Force has launched a massive rescue operation at an altitude of 17,000 feet at Lamkhaga Pass in Uttarakhand. Where on October 18, 17 trekkers including 17 tourists, porters and guides lost their way due to heavy snowfall and bad weather. So far 11 bodies have been recovered from the area leading to Lamkhaga pass. It is one of the most dangerous passes connecting Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh with Harsil of Uttarakhand.
The Indian Air Force started action after an SOS call made by the officers on 20 October. Also, two ALH helicopters have been deployed to reach Harsil, the tourist hill station. On October 20, rescue operations were launched at an altitude of 19,500 feet on an ALH helicopter with three National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel.
The next day the ALH took off with the SDR team as early as morning. who traced the two rescue sites. The rescue team found four bodies at an altitude of 15,700 feet. The helicopter then moved to another location and at an altitude of 16,800 feet rescued a survivor who was unable to move. The helicopter took off at dawn on 22 October. Despite the unfavorable terrain and strong wind, the team rescued one person from a height of 16,500 feet and managed to bring back five bodies.
Dogra scouts, four Assam and two ITBP teams on joint patrol, traced two more bodies and sent them to the Nithal Thatch camp. At the same time, on Saturday, the ALH team will conduct a search operation to trace and rescue the remaining missing people. The rescue team handed over the bodies to the local police and after giving first aid to the injured in Harsil, sent them to the district hospital in Uttarkashi.