Two Mountaineers Missing on 6,900m Peak in Northern India

Two Indian climbers, Tapi Mra and Niku Dao, have been missing for more than a week in northern India. They had set out to climb 6,900m Khyarw Satam, the highest peak in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The two climbers lost touch with the other six members of the expedition on August 17. The rest of the party turned back to Seppa, the administrative centre of the East Kameng District, in Arunachal Pradesh.

Khyarw Satam is isolated and difficult to access. Trekking to its base camp at 5,000m requires bushwhacking through a dense forest and over difficult terrain for six to seven days. The mountain lies close to the Chinese border.

A river runs through a forested valley in India. A rocky slope in the foreground leads down to the river.

Kameng River. Photo: Britannica

 

Indian Army helicopters are already in the region, waiting for better weather to start an aerial search for the missing mountaineers.

Everest summiters Tame Bagang and Tagit Sorang, together with mountaineer Taru Hau, will be among those supporting the rescue operation on the ground. They are already on the move. According to Aruchanal Today, at least 34 army personnel and 60 porters are also involved in the search.

Tapi Mra, 37, belongs to the Tagin ethnic group and was the first person from Arunachal Pradesh to climb Mount Everest, in 2009. Mra had also climbed trekking objectives Mera Peak and Island Peak, as well as Mounts Kilimanjaro in Africa and Kosciuszko in Australia. Local media reports that Mra’s companion, Niku Dao, is from the Puroik culture.

Ground searching team is already active, even before the improvement of the weather.

The ground team has already begun to search. Frame from a video by APN Live24

 

Khyarw Satam has been an obsession for Mra. He has been attempting to climb it for the last seven years.

Coordination meeting prior to the search.

Volunteers meet before the search. Photo: Aruchanal Today

Kris Annapurna

KrisAnnapurna is a writer with ExplorersWeb.

Kris has been writing about history and tales in alpinism, news, mountaineering, and news updates in the Himalaya, Karakoram, etc., for the past year with ExplorersWeb. Prior to that, Kris worked as a real estate agent, interpreter, and translator in criminal law. Now based in Madrid, Spain, she was born and raised in Hungary.