MUSTANG: A joint team from the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, and Nepal Police has been dispatched to rescue 15 people, including three foreign tourists, stranded in snow in the Hidden Valley of Thasang Rural Municipality-1 in remote Upper Mustang.

The team had entered Mustang via the base area of Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh-highest mountain.

The stranded group, which includes three British women tourists, had been trapped in snow since Monday, organized by Secret Himalaya Trek & Expedition Travel Agency, Kathmandu.

A 10-member rescue team comprising personnel from the Army High Altitude Training School, Indrabox Battalion, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force was dispatched to assist.

With improved weather on Wednesday, tourists were descending from higher altitudes, and additional support teams were sent from below.

The operation was triggered after reports indicated snow accumulation exceeding five feet in the Hidden Valley at an altitude of 5,100 meters above sea level.

Security authorities deployed the team, including snow-clearing equipment, to minimize risk, as trekking alone in heavy snowfall could have been dangerous.

Once rescued, the health of the tourists and the group will be assessed before handing them back to the travel agency, the Mustang District Police Office said.

Previously, tourists—including one German—had gone missing in the Dhampus Lake route of Thasang Rural Municipality-1 via the Dhaulagiri trekking trail.

Although the Dhaulagiri circuit trek is popular among foreign tourists, the region’s remoteness, lack of adequate infrastructure, and minimal signposts often leave trekkers out of contact, particularly during heavy snowfall in areas prone to year-round snow.