Nepal | Indian mountaineers Baljit Kaur and Arjun Bajpai rescued from Mount Annapurna in Nepal

Kathmandu. India’s leading female mountaineer Baljit Kaur and Arjun Bajpai, the youngest Indian mountaineer to scale Mount Everest in 2010, were rescued safely from Nepal’s Annapurna mountain on Tuesday. Officials of the campaign organizers gave this information. The 27-year-old Kaur, who scaled the world’s 10th highest peak without using supplemental oxygen, went missing near Camp-4 while descending from the summit point on Monday. The Himalayan Times newspaper quoted Pasang Sherpa, president of Pioneer Adventure, as saying that an aerial search party spotted Kaur above Camp IV, after which she was rescued by an expedition to an altitude of 7,363 metres. The Sherpa said, “She (Kaur) is suffering from frostbite.” Kaur has been admitted to CIWEC hospital in Kathmandu for treatment. According to the Sherpa, the aerial search party had seen Kaur descending alone towards Camp-4. The pioneer Indian woman climber, left alone below the summit point, remained out of radio contact till this morning, reports said. An aerial search operation was launched on Tuesday morning after she managed to send a radio signal for ‘urgent help’. According to Sherpa, Kaur’s GPS location indicated an altitude of 7,375 meters (24,193 ft). She reached the Annapurna peak with two Sherpa guides at around 5.15 pm on Monday evening. At least three helicopters were deployed to search for them. In May last year, Baljit Kaur, a resident of Himachal Pradesh, scaled ‘Mt Lhotse’ and became the first Indian mountaineer to scale four peaks above 8000 meters in a single season. Indian climber Arjun Vajpayee was also rescued from an altitude of 6,800 metres, said Chhawang Dawa Sherpa, expedition director of the Seven Summits trek. Also read The Kathmandu Post newspaper quoted Tourism Department Director Yubraj Khatiwada as saying that Vajpayee was hurt. Vajpayee (29) has been admitted to Hums Hospital for treatment after being airlifted to Kathmandu. Vajpayee has already set several world records in mountaineering by climbing Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Mount Makalu, Mount Kangchenjunga, Mount Manaslu and Cho-Ou. Anurag Malu, a resident of Kishangarh in Rajasthan, went missing on Monday while descending from the third camp of Annapurna mountain and fell into a nearly 6,000-metre-deep gorge. A team of five Sherpa climbers is searching for Malu. The report quoted Sherpas as saying that Pakistani climbers Shahroz Kashif and Naila Kiyani were also rescued safely after falling ill while descending from the summit. Similarly, Suman Pandey, the Nepali army captain who scaled Mount Annapurna, was also rescued from the camp after complaining of health problems. According to Mingma Sherpa, president of Seven Summit Treks, Noel Hanna, the first person from Ireland to summit K-2 in the winter season, died at Camp 4 last night. Reports said that Hanna’s body was brought back to Kathmandu on Tuesday. Annapurna is the tenth highest mountain in the world, standing at 8,091 meters above sea level. Its ascent is extremely difficult and full of dangers. (agency)