Four members of a trekking team died and 18 others got stranded on a trek to Sahastratal alpine lake, situated at an altitude of 4,100-4,400 metres in the upper Himalayan region, an official said on Wednesday.

A 22-member trekking team was sent by Himalayan View Trekking Agency, Maneri, on May 29 on a 35-km long trek from Uttarkashi.

The team was constituted by 18 trekkers from Karnataka and one from Maharashtra, besides three local guides, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht said.

The team was to return by June 7, but lost its way due to bad weather as it approached Sahastratal from the last base camp, Bisht said.

The trekking agency later found that four members of the team had died and others were stranded, the DM said.

Land and aerial rescue operations have been launched in search of the trekkers, he said.

The Indian Air Force has been requested to rescue the stranded trekkers and find the bodies of those who died during the Malla-Silla-Kushkalyan-Sahastratal trek, he said.

Arrangements have been made for rescue operations from Matli, Harsil, and other helipads, he said.

A 10-member recce and rescue team from the forest department has crossed Silla village, while an SDRF team left Uttarkashi early on Wednesday for Budha Kedar in Tehri district, the DM said.

A mountaineering team of the SDRF will soon leave in a helicopter from Dehradun for an aerial recce of the area, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi said. District Hospital Uttarkashi and Primary Health Center Bhatwadi have been put on alert.

Apart from this, 14 rescue workers and a doctor has been sent to ITBP, Matli.

Yaduvanshi informed the media that the Ardangi helipad had been put on alert mode by the Tehri District Administration and an ambulance and police team was deployed there.

A team of Forest Department, SDRF, Police and local people is also being sent from Tehri to the spot for search and rescue. This team will leave on foot from Pinswad of Ghansali.

The trek is located on the border of Tehri district.

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