Staff Reporter
SEPPA, 14 Aug: Inclement weather on the way to Mt Khyarii Satam in East Kameng district thwarted an Indian Army helicopter from joining the search operation for missing Everester Tapi Mra and his aide Niku Dao.
East Kameng DC Sachin Rana informed that the Indian Army did weather check taking off from their air base in Tezpur (Assam) and found bad weather over Nechiphu area of West Kameng district, en route to Seppa and onwards to Mt Khyarii Satam.
The Army will make another attempt on 16 August, if weather permits.
The search team led by Everester Tagit Sorang has reportedly reached the advance camp on the way to Mt Khyarii Satam. The team will proceed to Camp-2 on Tuesday to resume the search mission on 16 August, subject to weather condition.
The union defence ministry has given approval for airlifting 11 members of the search team in the service helicopters “on payment basis,” as requested by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
The Indian Army had suggested to the district administration to approach the Indian Air Force for advanced light helicopters (ALH) to airlift the team from Seppa to Lada.
“From Seppa to Lada, the IAF ALHs will be utilised, and the move from Lada to base camp will be undertaken utilising the Army’s Cheetah helicopters,” the Indian Army informed.
The search operation for Mra and Dao has resumed after nine months. The duo went missing on 17 August, 2022, while attempting to scale Mt Khyarii Satam in East Kameng district.
They remain untraceable since then, despite several attempts having been made by the Indian Army and the mountaineers’ relatives to trace their whereabouts.
The 18-member search team, including Everesters Tagit Sorang and Tame Bagang, along with two Everester Sherpas from Nepal – Gelje Sherpa and Furi Sherpa -and mountaineer Taru Hai has reached the advance camp.
The East Kameng DC is the incident commander, and the youth affairs department is supervising the operation. The sports & youth affairs department is sponsoring the search operation.
