A 14-member Sherpa team, led by Chhang Dawa Sherpa from Seven Summit Treks, is about to start the rescue operation of the deceased mountaineers Dipankar Ghosh (53) from West Bengal and Indian Army personnel Narayan Singh. Mingma David Sherpa, the legendary Sherpa of the Project Possible team, who summited Kangchenjunga, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri in last one month, is reportedly part of the rescue team, alongside, Tashi Sherpa, one of the directors of Seven Summit Treks.
Dipankar reportedly went missing while he was on the expedition of Makalu above 8200m nearby the summit bid. Just about a similar version of the story has been doing the rounds about Narayan Singh as well. Dipankar's last contact with the Base Camp was around 7:00pm on 16th May. Narayan Singh, who was one of the 16-member Indian Army expedition team to Makalu, supposedly breathed his last above the elevation of 8200m while descending from the summit point on last Thursday.
The Indian Embassy in Nepal is closely monitoring the rescue mission and is constantly in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Government of India in New Delhi, as conveyed to Dream Wanderlust by the office of Indian Embassy in Nepal.
Also, in an exclusive conversation with Seven Summit Treks on May 17, we were told that it was impossible for them to start the rescue mission before May 22 since there was already a lot of rescue missions in progress due to 10 other sudden demise of mountaineers in last 10 days.
Today, in a fresh interview with Dream Wanderlust, Seven Summit Treks, has shared few details with us as follows:
Q: We came to know a while ago that a new Sherpa Team has left from the Base Camp to rescue Indian climber Dipankar Ghosh and Narayan Singh. Could you please elaborate on this?
A: Yes, a team of 14 Sherpas is on their way up to Makalu for the rescue operation of Dipankar Ghosh and Indian Army personnel Narayan Singh.
Q: Tell us a little bit about their plan.
A: As of now, they will directly ascend to Camp-2 from the Everest Base Camp and if they are able to find their body, they will start descending back to the Base Camp on 23rd May.
Q: How long are they going to conduct the rescue mission for?
A: If the weather is in their favour, they are expected to be back to the Base Camp with the deceased mountaineers by 25th May.
Q: Is there going to be any helicopter search or is this only going to be a Sherpa-led search?
A: No, as of now, it is planned to be only a Sherpa-led search. A helicopter will drop the Sherpa Team at the upper Base Camp and they will straightaway proceed to Camp-2. If at all both the bodies are rescued in the higher elevation, they will come back to Camp-2, followed by an airlift.
Q: Is this mission funded by the families of these two mountaineers or other governmental bodies?
A: We have been instructed by the Indian Embassy to start the mission at our earliest.
Q: Where are these 14 Sherpas starting their expedition from?
A: Most likely from Kathmandu today itself.
Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia
