Foreign tourist goes missing from Mardi trekking trail

POKHARA, Jan 02:A foreign tourist who visited the Mardi trekking trail in Kaski district's Machhapuchhre rural municipality has gone missing. The search was launched by District Police Office Kaski when 20-year-old Michal Liu Blomberg, a Swedish citizen, went missing on a walk on Saturday morning.

Michal, who left the hotel at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning to proceed to the Mardi base camp from the trekking route's high camp, did not return, according to District Police Office spokesman and Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Kumar BK. Michal went trekking by himself.

Last Friday, he registered at the Machhapuchhre rural municipality's tourist information center in the low camp of the trekking route. According to the authorities, the police team left for the missing tourist in Pokhara on Saturday evening.

"After receiving the information that the tourist was out of contact, we sent the police from the Ward Police Office Bagar to that place on Saturday evening," BK, the deputy superintendent of police, stated.

Ram Gurung, Ward President of Machapuchchre Rural Municipality-8, stated that the search and rescue operation for missing tourists from the local tourism industry as well as the rural municipality is ongoing.

According to local tourism professionals, the missing tourist passed through the Mardi viewpoint and proceeded to the base camp. The walk from Mardi high camp to the base camp takes four hours.

Mardi Himal trekking route has been a popular trek in recent years. The Australian Camp is the starting point for Siding, Dhampus, and Annapurna Rural Municipalities of Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality.