14 September,2009 12:15 PM IST | | IANS
Nineteen trekkers from the Indian Army have been rescued from Himachal Pradesh's tribal Lahaul and Spiti district after being stranded in high altitude slopes due to untimely snowfall last week, police said on Monday.
"Nineteen trekkers of the Pathankot-based AD Regiment were rescued by the Indian Army on Sunday. They had been stuck in the Pin valley for the past many days due to hostile weather," Superintendent of Police (Kullu) KK Indoria said.
The army personnel were on a routine trekking expedition from Kheer Ganga near Manikaran in Kullu district to Pin valley in Lahaul and Spiti.
"Due to widespread snowfall, the expedition got stuck near Mantlai (in the Spiti Valley). As the weather cleared Sunday, three military choppers were pressed into service and members of the expedition team, including porters, were airlifted," Indoria said.
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However, no official of the AD Regiment was ready to comment on the issue.
Himachal Pradesh got relief from heavy rains and snow Sunday after seeing continuous downpours for over four days.
According to the meteorological office here, most of the higher reaches got one to two metres of snowfall.