NEW DELHI: The Army has launched a search and rescue (SAR) mission for team members of a mountaineering expedition who have been missing since August 17 in Arunachal Pradesh. The state government sought help from the Army’s Tezpur based Gajraj Corps.
The SAR mission includes personnel from Army’s Special Forces and Arunachal Scouts “being employed for the ground search operations in the challenging terrain of the expedition area”, the Army said on Wednesday.
Two ALH and two Cheetah helicopters have been put on standby and they will be used for aerial reconnaissance of the area once the weather clears, added the Army. The two missing members include mountaineer Tapi Mra and Niku Dao.
Tapi Mra became the first person from Arunachal to summit Everest in 2009. The expedition to Mount Nyegi Kangtsang in East Kameng district was organised on a self-request basis by Tapi Mra for which the department of youth affairs of Arunachal gave approval. The incident was reported on August 29.
As per the latest input from the Deputy Commissioner, East Kameng district, two members of the expedition have been untraceable since August 17 as reported by the rest six members of the expedition who reached Seppa from their base camp on August 29 evening.
Meanwhile, Atar Kahana, an Israeli national,was evacuated by the IAF from the Gongmaru La pass at an elevation of 16,800 feet. Kahana was suffering from high-altitude sickness, including vomiting and low oxygen saturation.
Following the shortest route, the Casevac aircraft reached the spot within 20 minutes and spotted the casualty, who was then evacuated from the pass amid turbulent weather at the Air Force Station Leh.