Dehradun, Jan 30 (IANS): After remaining trapped in heavy snowfall for more than a week, four friends from Delhi were rescued late Tuesday evening from an Uttarakhand hotel, police officials said on Wednesday.

"We have rescued the four people from a hotel in Chakrata hills after a day-long rescue operation," said Director General of Police Anil Raturi.

All four, who are friends working in a private international airline, left Chakrata for Delhi at around 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

"Thank god, we are safe. But definitely, I would love to come back to Lokhandi in Chakrata again. We are thankful to local people and hotel owners who were very helpful during our tough days," said Syed Afshan Qadri, who with her three male friends was trapped in the Lokhandi hotel in Chakrata hills for more than nine days.

Police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel trekked more than 12 km to reach the snow-laden Lokhandi at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and brought them back to Chakrata.

"It was a very tough exercise as we trekked miles together to reach Lokhandi by clearing snow. Even while coming back, we faced difficulty because of the darkness," said Anup Nayal, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Chakrata.

Qadri was not happy with the government's response and failed to understand why they were not rescued by a helicopter.

"In such cases, the government usually rescues trapped people with a helicopter. But we were told to come from Lokhandi on our own initially. But after the stories done by the media, the pressure was built up on the government which launched the rescue operation," said Qadri.

The four tourists faced tough time in the hotel due to acute shortage of food and water for several days. There was also no electricity in the area.

"We are thankful to the locals who gave us food and water. But this experience will not deter us to come back to Lokhandi again," she said.