Seventeen hikers were missing in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The hikers had left Harshil on October 14 near Uttarakhands Uttarkashi for Chitkul in HPs Kinnaur, but they were reportedly missing in Lamkhaga Pass in bad weather October 17-19, he said.
The Lamkhaga Pass is one of the toughest passes that connects the Kinnaur district with Harshil in Uttrakhand.
Police and Ministry of Forestry teams, as well as a rapid response team, have been deployed on site, said Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq.
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The DC said it was seeking help from the Indo-Tibetan border police in their search.
The search will start early on Thursday morning, he added.
“3 missing porters found dead in Uttarakhand”
Three porters who went missing while accompanying an ITBP team on a remote patrol along the Indo-China border were found dead in the district on Wednesday, officials said.
The porters apparently got lost on return from patrol and were separated from the ITBP team, said Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal.
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They were supposed to reach the ITBP post in Neelapani on Monday, but due to snowfall on mountain tops, they did not return on Tuesday evening either. So the force sought the help of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Civil Protection Department to track them down, the officer said.
ITBP Matli 12 Battalion Commander Abhijit Samaiyar confirmed the death of the porters and said they were buried under snow.
He said an operation will be started on Thursday to recover their bodies and hand them over to their relatives, who are waiting in Matli.
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Authorities said eleven members of a trekking team en route to Chitkul in Himachal Pradesh were also missing after leaving Uttarkashi.
The team of eight trekkers and three cooks had left Harsil in the Uttarkashi district for Chitkul on October 11th and was supposed to reach its destination on October 19th administration office.
An SDRF team is preparing to track down and rescue the missing trekkers with a helicopter, the authorities said.
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