by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Eight mountaineers, including seven foreign nationals, went missing in northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials said Saturday.
The mountaineers went missing on way to Nanda Devi East peak in Pithoragarh district, about 540 km east of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.
According to officials, those missing include four British nationals, two U.S. nationals, one Australian and an Indian.
Officials said the Indian in the group might be a guide, however, local media reports said he is a liaison officer from the Indian Institute of Mountaineering,
"It was a group of 12 people which left left Munsiyari, the base camp on May 13. All of them were supposed to return to base camp on May 25," Additional District Magistrate Pithoragarh R. D. Paliwala told Xinhua via telephone.
"Yesterday evening we got information that only four people have returned and eight are missing."
The group had embarked on a mission to climb the 7,434-meter Nanda Devi peak.
Officials said they have initiated the rescue efforts to trace the missing climbers.
"Following the information about missing mountaineers, we mobilized our teams including disaster response force personnel, health teams and police, besides informing the Indo-Tibetan Border Police to initiate a rescue work. The team has set out to trace the missing persons," Paliwala said. "We have even requisitioned for a helicopter to intensify the search operation."
Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in India.
According to officials, the route to the Nanda Devi peak begins from Munsiyari and mountaineers have to tread a distance of about 90 km on foot.
"We are hopeful to trace them soon but at the same time rescue efforts are dependent on the weather conditions," Paliwala said.
Reports said the route is currently covered by snow and ice due to glacier movement.
