Six Indians stranded in Dolpa snow located, but bad weather turns back Nepal Army helicopter

Nepali officials say they now know where six Indian tourists stranded by heavy snow in the Dolpa district are, but the first attempt to reach them by air failed on Sunday and the rescue has been put off until Monday.

The group, two women and four men, has been stuck in the Shey Phoksundo National Park area since Saturday afternoon. They had gone to the Dho area of Ward No. 8 of Shey Phoksundo Rural Municipality, about 300 km northwest of Kathmandu. Dolpa Chief District Officer Junu Dhakal said the area was covered in heavy snow.

“We have located the area where they are stranded, and an Army helicopter is arriving to rescue them. We hope to rescue them soon,” Dhakal said. The officer was firm on one point: “We cannot say they are missing, as we have located the area.”

The weather did not cooperate. Police Inspector Binaya Singh, spokesperson for the District Police Office in Dolpa, said a Nepali Army helicopter had to turn back on Sunday because it could not land at the site. Security personnel have pinpointed the spot but cannot talk to the group because of the snow, he said. Earlier in the day a technical fault in an Army helicopter stationed at Surkhet was reported to have delayed the operation.

The local administration now plans to send a Simrik Air helicopter on Monday.

Warnings ignored

Dhakal said the tourists had ignored warnings from security personnel and from their Nepali guide, left the guide behind and headed towards Shey Phoksundo Lake in heavy snowfall. The guide raised the alarm with the District Administration Office on Saturday evening. Contact with the group grew patchy on Saturday night and was lost completely on Sunday morning.

The district administration has named the six as Moumita Halder, Piyali Koley, Jajla Trivedi Kumar, Aditya Singha, Diplina Bishwas and Rajesh De. Shey Phoksundo, at 3,600 metres, is Nepal’s deepest lake.