Sambalpur, Jul 24 (PTI) The Odisha Police rescued 17 tourists from Chhattisgarh who were stranded on the Gandhamardhan Hills due to continuous heavy rainfall, in an overnight operation, officials said on Thursday.

There were 13 women and four men in the group, who came here from Sarangarh-Bilaigarh district of Chhattisgarh, they said.

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The tourists had begun their trek from Nrusinghnath in Bargarh district to Harishankar in neighbouring Bolangir district on Wednesday evening, said Niranjan Barik, a police officer engaged in the operation.

Due to inclement weather and poor visibility, they lost their way and were stranded on an elevated terrain overnight, he said.

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Upon receiving information, the Bargarh district police began a rescue operation, deploying a team of the District Voluntary Force with necessary food supplies, first-aid kits, and rescue gear, he said.

The team navigated through challenging terrain and reached the stranded group in the early hours, he added.

"The tourists were provided with food and preliminary medical attention on-site. They were then safely escorted back to the base camp at Nrusinghnath, where a medical team further examined their condition," the officer said.

"All tourists were found to be stable. A few were administered minor medication by doctors as precautionary measures," he said.

SP Prahlad Sahai Meena personally supervised the rescue operation, while IGP (Northern Range) Himanshu Lal visited the site to oversee the rescue efforts, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)