Tribune News Service
Air Force men carry Canadian citizen Ruth Norfolk, rescued from mountains near Dharamsala, at the Pathankot air base.
— Tribune photo by NP Dhawan |
Dharamsala, June 16
“It was a miraculous escape,” said a Canadian diplomat, Mr Adrian Norfolk, who was today rescued from the Indrahar Pass where he had got stuck along with his family yesterday during a trekking expedition.
His wife, Ruth Norfolk, had sustained minor head injuries and was rushed to the Command Hospital in Chandi Mandir.
Mr Norfolk, his wife and two sons could not be located by two helicopters due to poor visibility and high velocity winds yesterday.
The family was brought to a safe location by a team sent by the Mountaineering Institute and then air-lifted to Dharamsala early today, said Mr S.R.Saini, in charge of the local unit of the institute.
“The family had climbed the pass successfully and it was only while coming back that one of them apparently slipped and the expedition went haywire around noon yesterday. It was at 3.30 a.m that they were brought to a safe place by the rescue teams,” said Mr Saini.
Later, addressing a press conference, Brig D.L. Choudhary said it was a well co-ordinated operation in collaboration with the district administration and the Air Force and they had planned other strategies in case of any eventuality.
Two helicopters, one from the Mountaineering Institute, Manali, and the other belonging to the Air Force had been sent in search of the diplomat’s family
yesterday.
