A British mountaineer and her American companion who had been stranded in the Himalayas for three days without food have been rescued.
Fay Manners, 37, and Michelle Dvorak, 31, had been climbing the Chaukhamba mountain in northern India, when they issued an SOS message on Thursday, with nothing further being heard from them.
The pair reported that they had lost their tent and climbing equipment after it was dragged into a ravine by a rockfall.
On Sunday, a spokesperson for India’s disaster management agency said that the two women had been found stranded at an altitude of about 6,000m.
He said: “Both mountaineers are safe, but they look very exhausted.”
The rescue operation took 80 hours to complete and involved the Indian air force and army, the Indian news agency Ians reported.
Manners, originally from Bedford, told local reporters: “We were pulling up my bag and she [Dvorak] had her bag on her. And the rockfall came, cut the rope with the other bag, and it just went down the entire mountain.
“We sent a message to our friends and they knew … They had told [the rescue team]: ‘They are stuck on the mountain, they have no equipment.’ So then this other team [of mountaineers] came to help us.”
An experienced climber, Manners is sponsored by brands including The North Face and had requested permission, along with her companion, from the local authorities to climb the peak.
They were reportedly airlifted by an Indian air force helicopter to a helipad at Joshimath, a town 21 miles south-east of Chaukhamba, at 7am local time on Sunday.
In a statement on X, the Indian air force said: “The rescue of two foreign (US & UK) mountaineers from Chaukhamba III trek in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli is a testament to the resilience and skill of the Indian air force, along with the collaborative efforts of SDRF, NIM and French mountaineers.
“After battling two days of bad weather, the IAF’s Cheetah helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet, showcasing remarkable coordination in extreme conditions.”
A French climbing party helped with the rescue after the group helped them descend to the altitude from which they were eventually airlifted, according to the air force.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We have been supporting the family of a British woman reported missing in India who has since been safely rescued.”
