India's top mountaineer Mastan disappears in Andes during expedition

Hyderabad, March 30, 2015: India's top mountaineer Malli Mastan, an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur and IIM-Kolkata, had gone missing during an expedition in Andes mountains in the Chile-Argentina boarder on March 24. His family members are now very much worried about him. After the Indian government took up the matter with the Argentina and Chile governments, rescue teams were sent to trace him. Mastan, 40, hails from Nellore district of AP and has more than 12 years of experience in mountain expeditions. His fellow mountaineers and friends informed the family that he was supposed to come to the base camp at Andes on March 25 but he did not. They tried to contact him through mobile but there was no contact. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was coordinating with the Argentina-Chile governments through Indian embassy to track the mountaineer's whereabouts, told reporters in Delhi that she was told there was heavy downpour on the path he had chosen soon after he left. Mastan's family members have appealed to Chile and Argentina governments to undertake aerial survey to trace him.