At least ten bodies have been seen after a 41-member team of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering was trapped when an avalanche hit Mount Draupadi’s Danda-2 peak in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on October 4.
Four deaths have been confirmed by the State Disaster Management Authority so far, but details have not been revealed.
talking to liveminT, SDRF sub. Commandant Mithilesh Singh said, “No list has been prepared yet and the casualties also cannot be confirmed as it may increase or decrease.”
He added that the rescue teams of SDRF, Indian Air Force, Uttarakhand Police and others are doing their best to help those trapped in the avalanche.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Authority said that a team of five State Disaster Response Force personnel and three instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) were landed at the institute’s Dokrani Bamak Glacier base camp to conduct search and rescue operations.
In addition, two helicopters from the Indian Air Force (IAF) base camp at Sarsawa in Uttar Pradesh also conducted a recce of the avalanche site before returning to the Harshil helipad.
Read also: 4 trainee climbers killed in Uttarakhand avalanche
Advance Mountaineering Course started from 14th September at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi.
“As per the training schedule on 4 October, the course for high altitude navigation and altitude gain was moved to Mount Draupadi’s Danda-II (5670 m) at 0400 am, while returning from the top of the mountain in an avalanche at the Advanced Mountaineering Course. over Camp-1, in which 34 trainees and 07 mountaineering instructors were hit by an avalanche at 08.45 hrs,” the NIM said in a press release. It added that rescue operations are on and 4 bodies have been recovered so far.
Earlier on Tuesday, a team of 34 trainee climbers and seven instructors of NIM based in Uttarkashi was returning from the summit when an avalanche occurred at an altitude of about 17,000 feet at around 8.45 am, Principal Col Amit Bisht said.
Col Bisht said that the team members got trapped in the cracks after the avalanche and said that ten bodies were seen, out of which four have been recovered. Bad weather and night halted rescue operations for the night.
As news of the death of four people in the avalanche spread, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident.
After the incident, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the State Disaster Management Authority office at the Secretariat and canceled all his programs scheduled for Wednesday.
An Army ALH helicopter from the Air Force Station in Bareilly is also waiting at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) helipad in Matli, to assist the rescuers. Will join on Wednesday morning.
The Prime Minister said, “It is sad that we have lost precious lives of people associated with the NIM Uttarkashi mountaineering expedition. Condolences to the bereaved families. Rescue operations are on and the situation is being closely monitored by the authorities.” “
With agency input.
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