Trekkers, who were stuck under 8ft snow for 70 hours in Manali, rescued

Their trekking adventure turned into a nightmare when eight trekkers in Manali, Himachal Pradesh, found themselves trapped inside Chanderkhani Pass at a height of 11,398 feet, for more than 70 hour

Hitender Sharma, Anil Kumar, Akshay Kumar Bura,Chetan Chori, Saurav Sharma, Rohit Kumar, Ankush Kumar - all final year students of B Tech, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab - and their friend from Kullu, Bharat Kayasth, on March 10, were headed for the religious shrine Bijli Mahadev, but they lost their way and started walking on the deadly Chanderkhani Pass instead.

"They lost their way and reached Footasore village. Suddenly the weather changed and it started snowing. They were stuck at a deserted place, which was buried under seven to eight feet of snow. They had tents and sleeping bags, which saved them. They melted the snow to quench thirst but were without food," Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kullu, Rohit Ratore, who supervised the 70-hour-long rescue operation told Mail Today.

One of the rescued trekkers Chetan Chori, who hails from Ambala, Haryana, said that after visiting the shrine they had decided to trek up to the Chanderkhani Pass.

"We pitched our tents on the Chanderkhani Pass after it started snowing. The snowfall continued and within hours our tents were covered under four feet of snow. We had nothing to eat. We informed our parents and asked them to rescue us. We survived by eating boiled snails," Chori said.

While others were trapped inside their tents, Anil Kumar and Hitender Sharma left in search of a safer place to pitch their tent. They found a cave and took shelter there.

"They are safe and will be airlifted on Monday if the weather permits the helicopter to fly," Chori added.

"Six out of the eight trekkers - who were reported missing on their way to Chanderkhani Pass on Friday morning - were traced and later airlifted to Kullu on Sunday evening, official sources said.

"Rescued trekkers were airlifted and taken to Rungsu village, where they were given first aid by a team of doctors. Local residents offered them blankets, food and fire to keep them warm. They were then taken to the Kullu district hospital," Hans Raj Chauhan, Kullu Deputy Commissioner, said.

The rescue operation, which had to be halted due to the weather, was resumed late in the evening.

The rescue operation was launched by Kullu district authorities on Friday morning after one of the trekkers contacted the local police helpline. The rescuers on Saturday had found footprints of the trekkers at Footasor village. The private helicopter pressed into service, however, could not go beyond 6,000 feet due to the dense clouds and fog, police officials said.

Five ITBP, one mountaineer and two police parties were dispatched to locate the missing trekkers. We also took the help of local shepherds to trace them," Padam Chand, Kullu Superintendent of Police, said.

However, the authorities of the engineering institute said that the students had not taken administrative permission before proceeding on the trekking expedition.

"The seven students did not inform the institute about their plan. We came to know about the incident on Friday. We contacted the district administration, which started a rescue operation," Sukhinder Singh Punia, senior instructor, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, said.

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