Search operations resume to trace mountaineers in avalanche-hit Uttarakhand peak

Dehradun/Uttarkashi, October 5

Six mountaineers with minor injuries were brought to a helipad on Wednesday from Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarkashi district as search operations resumed to trace climbers missing after a massive avalanche hit the area at a height of 17,000 feet.

A 41-member team of mountaineers was returning after climbing the peak when they were hit by the avalanche on Tuesday.

Twenty-eight trainees from the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) were part of the team.

The list of trainees issued by Uttarakhand Police includes those from West Bengal, Delhi, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Haryana, Gujarat, Hmachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

An official here said the six mountaineers were brought to the Matli helipad and had “normal” injuries. They are being given first aid, the official said.

Search and rescue operations resumed on Wednesday with four ITBP jawans were dispatched in Cheetah and ALH helicopters to Dokrani Glacier in search of the missing mountaineers.

According to NIM principal Colonel Amit Bisht, 10 bodies were spotted on Tuesday of which four were recovered.

Rescue operations had to be halted due to darkness and inclement weather on Tuesday.

The avalanche struck at about 8.45am on Tuesday when the team of trainee mountaineers and instructors from NIM was returning after reaching the summit, Colonel Bisht said.

The team members got stuck in crevasses following the avalanche, he said.