3rd mountaineer goes missing, state govt sends 2-member team

Kolkata: A day when noted Bengal mountaineer Dipankar Ghosh went missing while he was coming down after scaling Mount Makalu in Nepal, the state government sent a two-member team to supervise the search operation for Kuntal Karar and Biplab Baidya on Kanchenjunga expedition who were feared dead after rescue operation to bring them down proved futile.

"The two-member team comprising an official from the state Youth Affairs department and mountaineer Debdas Adhikary has already reached Kathmandu. They will supervise search operation of Kuntal, Biplab as well as Dipankar who went missing on Friday," said Ujjal Ray, a member of the advisory committee of the state Youth Affairs department.

As informed to Ray by Seven Summits agency which was overseeing the expedition of Dipankar, the latter had successfully scaled the fifth highest peak of the world but while descending to the base camp went missing.

Mingma Sherpa who was with Ghosh claimed that when he was last seen, the mountaineer was fit and was instructing him to help another Indian team after an Indian member in the expedition died due to weather conditions.

Indian Army officer Narayan Singh had died at camp four on Thursday night while climbing down from the 8485-metre peak. Singh had joined the Army in 2002 and hailed from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. He is survived by his wife and three young children.

According to sources, the expedition lost track of Ghosh after he failed to reach the summit camp. The Nepal government has launched search operations to locate Ghosh but adverse weather conditions have become a barrier.

Known as one of the most outstanding mountaineers, Dipankar Ghosh has undertaken 47 mountaineering expeditions, including Mount Everest, Mt Lhotse, Mt Kanchenjunga, Mt Annapurna-I, Mt Manaslu, Mt Dhaulagiri, and Mt Cho Oyu.

A resident of Bally in Howrah, Dipankar had left his residence on May 8 for the expedition.

Mt. Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous and challenging peaks to summit.

It may be mentioned that Ramesh Ray and Rudraprasad Halder who had fallen sick during the Kanchenjanga expedition were airlifted and brought to the base camp on Thursday afternoon.