GUWAHATI: Rescuers believe that Arunachal Pradesh’s first Everester Tapi Mra and his assistant Niku Dao might have gone missing after falling into crevasses or hit by avalanches in snow-capped Mount Kyarisatam before losing contact with the porters in the base camp.
Both are missing since August 17.
In a major breakthrough in the operation, the aerial search team has finally identified a foot track leading from Camp 1 to Camp 2, both set up by Mra. They said the mountaineer and his assistant had reportedly gone missing from near Camp 2. "Likely area of missing persons is Camp 2, which is full of deep and wide crevasses as observed from a helicopter. Avalanches were observed in the adjoining areas of Camp 2," additional DC, East Kameng district and incident commander Rajib Chiduni said.
Three Cheetah helicopters of the army failed to trace human presence on the third consecutive day of aerial search on Monday, even after reaching camp 2- the highest camp set by mountaineers in Mount Kyarisatam. Camp 2, located at around 700 meter above the base camp, was set up last year by Tapi Mra’s team at 5,119 meter altitude.
"Clear weather window provided opportunity for a detailed helicopter search today. The aerial search team has been able to identify foot track leading from Camp 2 to some distance (approximately 15-20 meters) in the northerly direction," Chiduni added.
Two Army helicopters have expedited aerial search in the mountain range on Sunday after slight improvement in weather conditions, whereas a 10-member team of Army personnel and a mountaineer are doing the ground recce from the base camp. Chiduni added that the rescue team which was inducted in the base camp on Sunday will proceed to Camp 1 for ground search on Tuesday.
Sources in the search team said climbing upto Camp 2 from the base camp takes one day and thus, the focus of the 10-member ground team previously was to conduct the search operation near the base camp.
Tapi Mra, the first Arunachalee to conquer Mount Everest, and his associate Niku Dao, had reportedly ventured out to climb Arunachal’s highest snow-capped peak, Khyarw Satam, at 6,900 metres. Tagit Sorang, one of the youngest Eversters in Seppa earlier said the duo perhaps wanted to set up camp 3 for the first time and reported making plans to summit.
