No trace of trekkers missing for over 50 hours, ITBP launch search teams

SHIMLA: Five teams comprising 50 ITBP personnel were today pressed into service to locate and rescue eight engineering students who went missing in bad weather near Chandrakhani Pass in Kullu district more than fifty hours ago while on a trekking trip.

The teams have been launched from three directions of Patnikhal to Chandrakani, Bijli Mahadev to Chandrakani and Malana village to Chandrakani, a spokesperson for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in New Delhi said, adding inclement weather was hampering search and rescue efforts.

"The 50-member team with special equipment is encountering bad weather," he said.

Seven students of Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET), Longowal in Punjab, along with a former student of the same institute had left from Nagger on Thursday on a trekking trip and are missing for over 50 hours now.

Four rescue teams constituted by Kullu district administration are combing the entire area in the vicinity of Chandrakhani Pass but their task has become difficult as the footprints of the students on snow have disappeared due to fresh snowfall.

There has been no contact with the missing students and rescue teams are making all possible efforts to trace them, officials had said yesterday.

The search teams had conducted aerial survey by helicopters but inclement weather and stormy conditions thwarted their efforts.

The missing students were identified as Hitendra Sharma from Theog, Chetan Chori and Saurav Sharma from Ambala, Ankush

Kumar from Gurdaspur, Rohit Kumar from Bhagpat district in Uttar Pradesh, Anil Kumar from Hamirpur, Akshay Kumar Bura from Chamba and Bharat Prakash from Kullu district.