Search going on for missing Indian climber in Nepal: Report

The search operation is going on to trace Indian climber Anurag Maloo, who went missing after falling into a deep crevasse on Nepal's Mount Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world.

Maloo, 34, a resident of Kishangarh in Rajasthan, went missing on Monday after he fell from around 6,000 metres while descending from Camp III.

A team of five sherpa climbers are conducting a ground search for the missing climber, Chhang Dawa Sherpa, the expedition director at Seven Summit Treks, was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times newspaper.

The expedition organiser added that an aerial search was also conducted on Tuesday to trace the Indian climber, it added.

Maloo is on a mission to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres and the seven highest points in all seven continents to create awareness and drive action towards achieving the UN Global Goals.

He has been awarded REX Karam- Veer Chakra and became the 2041 Antarctic Youth Ambassador from India.

Meanwhile, Maloo's brother Aashish has sought help from the governments of Nepal and India in finding his brother.

Aashish posted the request for help on change.org, addressed to India's Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

"Last week he had set out to climb Mount Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world. It was without question that he will return after successfully summiting yet another peak. But in an unfortunate turn of events, he fell down from around 6,000m while descending from Camp III on 17th April, and since then has been missing.

"We are devastated. It feels like our worst nightmares have come true, but we cannot lose hope. We know that Anurag is out there somewhere, waiting for us. Help us find him by signing and sharing this petition," Aashish said in the post on the crowd petition website.

He said a team of sherpas has started the search operation but that’s not enough.

"We need to act faster!! We need support from the Indian and Nepalese governments. We have contacted some of them, and need your support in making sure our voices reach them," he said.

Two other Indian mountaineers - Baljeet Kaur and Arjun Vajpayee - were rescued from Mt Annapurna in Nepal on Tuesday.

Kaur, 27, who scaled the world's 10th highest peak without using supplemental oxygen, went missing near Camp IV while descending from the summit point on Monday and was rescued from 7,363m after an aerial search team located her above Camp IV.

In May last year, Kaur, from Himachal Pradesh, scaled Mt Lhotse and became the first Indian climber to have climbed four 8000-meter peaks in a single season.

Vajpayee, 29, was also rescued from 6,800 metres, and admitted for treatment to Hams Hospital after being airlifted to Kathmandu.

He was awarded by Guinness World Records in 2022 for becoming the youngest person to climb two higher 8000ers (Mt. Everest in 2010 and Summit Lhotse in May 2011).

He has already scaled Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Makalu, Mt. Kangchenjunga, Mt. Manaslu, and Cho-Oyu, making several mountaineering world records.