Hyderabad, April 1 (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh government has sought help from Indian embassies in Argentina and Chile to trace ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu missing for last one week.

The chief secretary, in a message to the Indian embassies and also ministry of overseas Indian affairs on Tuesday, informed that Malli is missing since March 24 while climbing a mountain in Chile.

He requested them to take necessary steps to trace the whereabouts of Malli, who hails from Nellore district.

Malli's family has appealed to the state government to take the required steps to rescue him as he reportedly went missing in the Andes range of mountains between Argentina and Chile.

The 40-year-old, an alumnus of IIM, Calcutta and IIT-Kharagpur, was on a solo expedition to climb the mountain range from the base camp of Cerro Tres Cruces.

Malli began the expedition on March 24 and he was scheduled to return to the base camp the next day. All efforts by the family, friends and fellow mountaineers to contact him proved futile.

Malli is said to be the fastest '7 summiteer' in the world, having climbed the Seven Summits in just 172 days.