Six trekkers, who went missing on the Simhachalam Hill range, were traced after a three-hour-long search operation on Sunday.
About 20 persons began the trek early in the morning on Sunday and 14 of them returned midway, while six of them continued their trek.
One out of the six trekkers later in the afternoon could communicate that they were not able to find their way back.
The trekkers, who returned, immediately communicated the message to their parents who alerted the local MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju and the police.
A search operation was simultaneously initiated both by the city police and the district police, Executive Officer of the Simhachalam Devasthanam and VUDA.
District Collector Pravin Kumar even alerted the navy and requested for helicopter sorties and even asked the VUDA to send its helicopter that is being used for heli-tourism for rescue operation.
The trekkers were finally spotted by a naval helicopter rescue team and three of them were airlifted, while the remaining three were rescued by the Greyhounds team of the district police, said DCP (law and order) K. Fakeerappa.
Describing the rescue operation, K. Jaggandham, father of one of the trekkers, said, ‘It was a well-coordinated effort by all the agencies such as District Collector, VUDA, police, Simhachalam devasthanam and Navy. Many senior officers such as Vice-Chairman of VUDA Basant Kumar, DCP Fakeerappa and MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju personally supervised the rescue operation.”
