SDRF rescues four foreign tourists stranded on Uttarakhand's Neelkanth trek

Dehradun, Oct 9
In a challenging late-night operation, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) successfully rescued four foreign tourists stranded on the Neelkanth Mahadev Lake trek in the Badrinath area.

The rescue mission was initiated late Tuesday night after the Badrinath police station informed the SDRF team about the tourists' plight.

Led by Chief Constable Rahul Thapa, the SDRF team from Post Badrinath promptly set out with the necessary rescue equipment.

In coordination with the local police, the team conducted an extensive search operation on the Neelkanth trek. Despite the pitch-black night and harsh conditions, the team tirelessly worked to locate the missing tourists.

After significant effort, the SDRF team successfully found the four tourists and safely brought them back to Badrinath.

The tourists expressed their gratitude for the prompt and courageous efforts of the SDRF and local police.

The rescued individuals were identified as Joseph (56), a resident of Spain; Paulo (39), a resident of Brazil; Rodrigo (38), a resident of Brazil; Danilo (43), a resident of Brazil.

Earlier on Sunday, a similar 80-hour rescue operation was carried out for two stranded mountaineers on the Chaukhamba Peak in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand.

The operation was a joint effort involving the Indian Air Force, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Army, and local administration.

Chamoli's Disaster Management Department received an alert from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) on Thursday evening, notifying them that two mountaineers -- one from the US and the other from the UK -- were stranded at an altitude of 6,015 metres on Chaukhamba Peak. Following the alert, all relevant agencies were mobilised.

On Friday, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, along with Chamoli's Disaster Management Department, coordinated a rescue mission with the Indian Air Force and SDRF.

Despite numerous challenges, continuous efforts were made to safely evacuate the climbers, and both mountaineers were successfully rescued on Sunday.