Uttarakhand avalanche: Death toll goes up to 19 now; rescue op underway

Dehradun, Oct 06: A total of 19 bodies have so far been recovered in rescue operations at the Draupadi ka Danda mountain peak, in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, where an avalanche hit a team of mountaineers on October 4 morning, according to officials.

"A total of 19 bodies have been recovered from the crevice. Efforts will be made to bring the bodies to Matli helipad by Advanced Light Helicopter today. Total 30 rescue teams deployed," Uttarakhand DGP said.

"Total 30 persons from various teams of ITBP, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Air Force, Army, SDRF, etcetera have been deployed," he added.

Of the total bodies recovered till Thursday, 14 were of trainees and the remaining two were of instructors. The identity of the bodies was not revealed by officials. Four bodies, including those of two women NIM instructors were recovered on Wednesday.

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.