Close X
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
ADVT 
India

Top Indian Mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, Who Went Missing, Found Dead In South America

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Apr, 2015 01:46 PM
  • Top Indian Mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, Who Went Missing, Found Dead In South America
Indian mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, who was missing since March 24 while climbing the mountains between Chile and Argentina, has been found dead, officials said here on Saturday.
 
"Mountains retained its favourite child... R.I.P Malli Mastan Babu," read an announcement on Facebook page 'Rescue Malli Mastan Babu' created by his friends and well-wishers.
 
The body of the 40-year-old mountaineer, who hailed from Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, was found at a height of 6,000 feet in the Ceros mountains, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.
 
Venkaiah Naidu, who also hails from Nellore, discussed with Sushma Swaraj the matter of bringing back the body to India.
 
She informed him that the central government would bring back the body to Chennai, the nearest airport to his village.
 
Naidu also spoke to the collector and other senior officials of Nellore to make arrangements to take the body to his village.
 
He also spoke to Mastan Babu's sister Dorasanamma and informed her about the arrangements.
 
The mountaineer left home for the trip on December 16, 2014, and began the expedition from the Argentine side on March 24.
 
He was scheduled to return to the base camp the next day but was apparently trapped by bad weather.
 
All efforts by the family, friends and fellow mountaineers to contact him proved futile.
 
His elder brother Malli Pedda Mastanaiah told IANS that his friends were the first to break the shocking news.
 
"We learnt through his friends that he is no more," said Mastanaiah, who is a school teacher in Khammam district of Telangana.
 
Mastanaiah, who was on his way to his home town, said they were waiting to hear from the government about when the body will be brought back.
 
The Indian government said on Friday that helicopter teams from Argentina and Chile were searching the Andes mountains for Mastan Babu.
 
On Saturday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Akbaruddin tweeted: "RIP #MalliMastanBabu. With his friends & family we are working with authorities in Argentina & Chile on next steps in a difficult situation."
 
The post about his death has already got his admirers writing messages of tribute.
 
One post said: "Mastan embraced South America as his own in his last four years. He learned Spanish to be able to move in South American countries and he really enjoyed the Andes and its vast set of challenges. Mastan has been the amazing unofficial brand ambassador for the South American adventure destinations especially the Andes."
 
The top mountaineer had achieved the feat of becoming the "fastest seven summiteer" in the world (172 days in 2006, during which he climbed seven summits on seven days of the week in each calendar month).
 
He was also the first Indian to summit Mt. Vinson Massif, the tallest peak in Antarctica and the first person from Andhra Pradesh to scale the Everest.
 
He was an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur, IIM-Kolkata, NIT-Jamshedpur and Sainik School Korukonda.
 
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over his tragic demise.
 
"My tributes to mountaineer Mastan Babu. I stand by his family members in this hour of grief. He made us proud by following his passion," the chief minister said in his condolence message.
 
State Urban Development Minister P. Narayana, in his condolence message, recalled that despite coming from a poor family, Mastan Babu worked hard to come up in life.

MORE India ARTICLES

FabIndia Store Sealed In Goa As HRD Minister Smriti Irani Spots CCTV Overlooking Changing Room

FabIndia Store Sealed In Goa As HRD Minister Smriti Irani Spots CCTV Overlooking Changing Room
A store operated by fashion boutique chain Fabindia was sealed in Goa on Friday and four people were arrested for allegedly setting up a CCTV camera which overlooked the store's changing room where central minister Smriti Irani was trying out clothes.

FabIndia Store Sealed In Goa As HRD Minister Smriti Irani Spots CCTV Overlooking Changing Room

Scrumptious Tundey Kebabs At Cricketer Suresh Raina's Wedding

Scrumptious Tundey Kebabs At Cricketer Suresh Raina's Wedding
The flavours of Lakhnavi cuisine will tingle the taste buds at cricketer Suresh Raina's New Delhi wedding where rich and succulent Tundey kebabs wrapped in thick crusty parathas will be offered with onion rings and spicy dhaniya chutney.

Scrumptious Tundey Kebabs At Cricketer Suresh Raina's Wedding

Congress targets Modi after BJP takes jibe at Rahul Gandhi

Congress targets Modi after BJP takes jibe at Rahul Gandhi
With the BJP taking potshots over "leave of absence" taken by Congress vice chief Rahul Gandhi, the Congress on Friday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of ignoring senior leaders of his party, including L.K. Advani.

Congress targets Modi after BJP takes jibe at Rahul Gandhi

Gurbani Festival In Delhi From Friday

Gurbani Festival In Delhi From Friday
Singers like Jaspinder Narula, Madhup Mudgal and Neele Khan will perform kirtan and gurbani at a three-day festival beginning here on Friday, the organisers said.

Gurbani Festival In Delhi From Friday

Sania And Saina Symbols Of Woman Power

Sania And Saina Symbols Of Woman Power

Saina Nehwal has officially been anointed the No.1 woman player in world badminton. Sania Mirza i...

Sania And Saina Symbols Of Woman Power

When Will Rahul Return, Asks BJP; Soon, Says Sonia

When Will Rahul Return, Asks BJP; Soon, Says Sonia
The BJP on Thursday took a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi wondering when he will return but Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asserted that he will soon be back among the people.

When Will Rahul Return, Asks BJP; Soon, Says Sonia