Two trekkers died during an outing in Himachal Pradesh's Bir Billing, and their bodies were discovered 48 hours later because of their loyal pet dog.

The German Shepherd, which accompanied the trekkers, not only guarded their bodies but also kept on barking until rescue teams located them on February 6.

The deceased trekkers have been identified as Abhinandan Gupta (30), a resident of Shivnagar, Pathankot and Pranita Wala (26) from Maharashtra. They had been missing since Monday in the valley that is renowned for paragliding. Their bodies were discovered a day later approximately three kilometers below the takeoff point.

Their bodies have been handed over to their family members after the postmortem was conducted at the sub-divisional hospital. Officials suspect that the young man and woman died after a fatal fall in the snow.

Both the young man and the girl had departed for Billing in their private car on Sunday afternoon. After parking the car at a spot, they proceeded on foot towards the takeoff point. Officials said that both of them were seen returning on foot towards Bir in the late evening.

However, when they failed to return even on Monday, Abhinandan Gupta’s family member Karanveer informed the police, as both their mobile phones were switched off.

On Tuesday morning, a rescue team initiated a search operation along with police officials. Their bodies were discovered hours later as the team proceeded towards the spot after hearing the German Shepherd barking persistently.

The man had been residing at a rented house near Chaugan in Bir since the past five years, while the woman had only recently arrived in the Himachal Pradesh village.

Source: India Today