Bodies of five mountaineers out of the total eight, who went missing almost 10 days ago in India’s northern hilly state of Uttarakhand, have been spotted, official sources confirmed on Monday.

According to sources, a team of rescuers onboard an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter spotted the bodies of the five mountaineers who were apparently trapped in an avalanche near an unnamed peak adjoining the “Nanda Devi East” peak on Monday.

“On Monday morning the IAF chopper left for a sortie at 8.51 a.m for the group’s last location of Nanda Devi East.

“During the sortie, which lasted for about two hours, it detected five bodies at a height of about 5,000 meters.

“The bodies were seen in the middle of an avalanche and due to its remote location and height; it is difficult to recover them.

“The spot is about 500 meters away from the Nanda Devi East Peak,’’ the official said.

However, efforts are being made to recover the bodies, the identity of whom are yet to be ascertained.

The bodies were recovered at a height of 5,000 meters.

Report says search and rescue operations are going on to trace the remaining three mountaineers, though the rescue work is hampered by bad weather.

The eight mountaineers, including four Britons, two Americans, one Australian and one Indian, had been missing for about 10 days.

They were attempting to climb the “Nanda Devi East’’ peak when they suddenly went missing.

The eight mountaineers were part of a 12-member team.

It reported that four others stranded near their base camp were rescued on Sunday.

NAN