Army rescues two Austrian trekkers

JAMMU - Two Austrian nationals who had gone for trekking in Ladakh but were stranded after meeting with an accident were rescued by the Indian army from the cold desert area.

“The Austrian embassy in Delhi made a request to the army to evacuate some of their nationals who had got stranded at Khalsi,” a defence spokesperson said.

The troops using army aviation helicopters rescued the two Austrians Wednesday evening.

The spokesperson said: “It was learnt that Benno Wiesenberger and Gudrun Sonderegger of Austria were on a trekking trip in the area of Lamayuru. During the trek, both were injured and one was diagnosed with suspected spinal injury.”

Since the army hospital at Khalsi did not have a provision to treat spinal injuries, the foreigners were shifted to Military Hospital in Leh town.

“Later, the Austrian Ambassador to India personally spoke on phone to the army authorities at Leh and thanked them for the timely evacuation of his country’s citizens,” he said.