Mumbai trekker Richard Khear falls into gorge in Lahaul-Spiti, missing
SHIMLA: Mumbai trekker Richard Khear, 30, fell into a 300-metre deep gorge of Mayar valley in Lahaul-Spiti district on August 29 when his rope broke during rappelling at Kistal Peak. He has been reported missing since then.
Khear, on an expedition since August 12 in Mayar valley, fell while scaling a mountain called Kistal Peak, near Tawa Glacier.
Rescue operations were carried out. First an army team was sent for search but they couldn't land the chopper. Some mountaineering experts were since camping at the spot but the rock is too hard and the cliff too steep to climb down. One more search team was sent on Wednesday last. An Air Force chopper too had scanned the gorge but the trekker could not be located.
"I request you to kindly arrange for an army or air force rescue team immediately to save my son. It has been four days since he has been battling for life in the valley with not a single soul to help him. We do not even know if he has survived this or not, we are only hoping he has. Please look into this matter immediately as there has been tremendous delay already. Every passing
minute is reducing the chances of his survival," trekker's mother Judith Khear had said in a letter sent to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh last
week.
