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Uttarkashi avalanche: Five more bodies brought to Uttarkashi; two still missing
A team of 41 people – 34 trainees and 7 trainers – were hit by the avalanche around 8.45 am last Tuesday near the Dokrani Bamak glacier on the Mount Draupadi ka Danda 2 peak in Uttarakhand
Five more bodies were brought to Uttarkashi from the avalanche-hit site on Monday as rescue and search operations recommenced for the group of climbers from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering who were struck by the disaster on October 4 on Mount Draupadi ka Danda 2 peak in Uttarakhand.
The bodies were first brought down via Indian Air Force choppers at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police helipad in Matli, from where they were taken to the Uttarkashi district hospital by road.
The five deceased were identified as Sandeep Sarkar of Kolkata, Santosh Kukreti of Haridwar, Rajat Singhal of Gurugram, Amit Kumar Singh of Uttar Pradesh, and Vanshidar of Hyderabad.
A team of 41 people – 34 trainees and 7 trainers – were hit by the avalanche around 8.45 am last Tuesday near the Dokrani Bamak glacier while returning from high-altitude navigation on the 5,670-metre mountain.
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After the post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to the families. With this, the bodies of 27 mountaineers and trainees have been recovered from the avalanche site.
Of the total recovered bodies, 26 have been brought down so far. Two are still missing, said an official.
“Of the 27 bodies recovered from the avalanche site, 26 have been brought down. The remaining one is at the basic campsite and will be flown to Matli once the weather is clear,” Uttarakhand SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra said.
“Fresh snowfall at the upper reaches is a big challenge for search teams looking to trace the remaining two missing people. It doesn’t allow choppers to carry out sorties,” he said.
According to officials, 42 members of NIM, 8 members of SDRF, 34 members of Army, 12 members of ITBP, 14 members of HAWS (High Altitude Warfare School) are engaged in rescue operations.
Two IAF Cheetah helicopters and an ALH chopper are involved in the rescue operations.
