Body of missing Italian trekker found in Ladakh; IAF rescues injured mountaineer

The body of a 39-year-old missing Italian trekker was found while an injured mountaineer was rescued in a separate operation by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Ladakh, officials said on Sunday.

The body of Davide Macella was recovered by a joint team of the police, the Union Territory Disaster Response Force (UTDRF) and the Army’s ”Forever in operation” division from Charchar La Pass along the Leh-Zangla track, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kargil, Anayat Ali Chowdhary told PTI.

Macella was reported missing in the treacherous terrain while on a hiking trip from Leh to Zangla in Himachal Pradesh, after being last seen in Hankar on July 23.

Chowdhary said the joint rescue team was launched from Kargil and the body of the foreigner was retrieved with the help of local guides and handed over to the nominated guardian after completion of legal formalities.

Lauding the role of the rescuers, he said they endeavoured tough challenges of the terrain and wadded through upstream to ensure that the body is retrieved in the shortest possible time of two days.

Last week, a rescue team of five UTDRF personnel on a mission to locate the foreigner had to be airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in a daring operation from the Markha valley.

In the rescue operation, the IAF single engine helicopter flew in the uncharted territory and narrow valley without any flat terrain or feature to land to rescue the trapped UTDRF personnel, officials said.

In another rescue mission, the IAF evacuated an injured mountaineer from the base camp of 7,135-metre-high Mt Nun, the highest peak in the Zanskar valley of Ladakh.

”114 HU (helicopter unit) #Leh of Indian Air Force successfully evacuated an injured mountaineer from Mt Nun base camp in a daring rescue op (operation),” Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Army in Leh said in a tweet on X on Sunday. He also shared a few videos and pictures of the operation.

Officials said the IAF launched the rescue operation at the requisition of Kargil Deputy Commissioner Shrikant Balasaheb Suse on getting information about head injuries suffered by an Indian mountaineer.

The injured mountaineer was evacuated to a hospital after being rescued by the IAF, they said.