Uttarakhand avalanche: Death toll climbs to 9; J&K experts join op to rescue trapped climbers

Dehradun, Oct 06: As many as nine bodies have been retrieved so far after an avalanche hit Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarakashi district on Tuesday, Nehru Institute Of Mountaineering (NIM) said. However, 29 people are still missing.

"A total of 9 bodies have been recovered, including four that were brought down on October 4 and 5 that were retrieved today. As many as 29 trainees are still stranded," NIM said in a statement.

Uttarkashi Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal had earlier said that eight of those trapped were rescued.

Meanwhile, a team of experts from Jammu and Kashmir has joined the operation to rescue 27 mountaineers who were trapped on Draupadi's Danda-II mountain peak in Uttarakhand after being caught in an avalanche on October 4.

The expert team has joined the operation with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.

SDRF said that the team will conduct its rescue operation at the High Altitude. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force has informed that they had deployed two helicopters for the rescue operation with which several mountaineers were rescued from Base Camp located at about 12,000 ft. Four mountaineers lost their lives in the avalanche with several still missing.

The avalanche struck at an altitude of around 17,000 feet around 8.45 am when the team of 34 trainee mountaineers and seven instructors from Uttarkashi-based NIM was returning after summiting, principal Colonel Amit Bisht said. The team members got stuck in crevasses following the avalanche, Col Bisht said.

Besides the tragic incident of the avalanche in Uttarkashi, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami vannounced ex-gratia for the accident which claimed 32 lives and injured more than 20 people after a bus carrying a wedding procession fell into a gorge in the Birokhal area of Dhumakot in Pauri-Garhwal district on Tuesday night.