12-member team formed to trace Shimla trekker missing since Nov

Kullu, September 9

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) has constituted a 12-member team of mountain rescue experts to search for and locate Ashutosh Himta, a resident of Adhshala village in Chopal tehsil of Shimla, who had gone missing after being hit by an avalanche at the 17,490-foot-high Friendship Peak near Manali while trekking with two friends on November 19 last year. He was untraceable since then. The team left on the search operation from Manali today.

Various rescue teams, including the Tiranga Mountain Rescue Team from the Siachen glacier, a Dogra squad of the Army and an ITBP team, could not trace Himta even after an extensive search operation for 14 days. However, his helmet, ice-axe and a torch were found. Even the Recco Avalanche Rescue Device could not locate him.

ABVIMAS Director Avinash Negi said that they had planned the search operation post-monsoon this year and had also received a request from the DDMA, Kullu. He added, “We are hopeful that we will be able to locate the missing trekker.”