MUSTANG: Two Nepali tourists trapped in snow at Chharka on the Mustang-Dolpa border were safely rescued this morning by helicopter.

The operation was coordinated by the Mustang District Administration Office with assistance from the Nepali Army’s Indra Box Battalion and carried out using an Air Dynasty helicopter.

The rescued tourists, Manish GC from Parbat and Santosh Kunwar from Myagdi, had been stuck at the Mustang-Dolpa border due to heavy snowfall.

Mustang Chief District Officer Bishnu Prasad Bhusal confirmed that the army coordinated the rescue after receiving information about the tourists’ situation.

GC and Kunwar had set out on October 26 to visit Upper Dolpa. They stayed in Santa village on the first day before traveling to Chharka in Upper Dolpa, where heavy snowfall stranded them for six days, Bhusal said.

After the snow stopped on November 2, they set out for Mustang with local contractor Bikas Rokaya, who later got separated.

Unable to navigate the high-altitude Chharka Barrel area, the tourists remained stranded for four more days. Rokaya alerted authorities via satellite phone, prompting a Nepali Army helicopter rescue.

Tourist Manish GC confirmed they were stuck for four days and were safely rescued following Rokaya’s report.