‘It happened in seconds’: Survivors recount Uttarakhand avalanche horror

A 41-member group from NIM, including 34 trainees and seven instructors, were hit by an avalanche around 8.45 am on Tuesday while returning from high-altitude navigation from the Mount Draupadi Ka Danda-II peak (5,670 metres).

Dehradun: Two trainee mountaineers, who were rescued on Wednesday after being hit by an avalanche in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district a day ago, recalled the near-death experience and credited the instructors who were part of the expedition team for their survival.

NDRF personnel shift the body of a victim during a search and rescue operation after a bus carrying members of a marriage party fell into a gorge, in Pauri Garhwal district, Wednesday. (PTI)

“The cut off time to reach the peak was 8.30 am. We were 50-100 metres from the summit with our instructors ahead of us, when suddenly an avalanche hit us and took everyone down,” recalled Sunil Lalwani, a trainee of the advance mountaineering course at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) and part of the expedition.

“It happened in a matter of seconds and we were dumped in a crevasse,” added Lalwani, who was admitted at Uttarkashi district hospital.

Next thing, he recalled, was he along with others in the group were in the crevasse covered with snow. “We were somehow able to breathe.” He saw four instructors from NIM trying to save them. “It’s because of them that we are alive today.”

On Wednesday, 14 members of a team from NIM — 11 trainees and three instructors — that had gone missing after being hit by an avalanche at Dokrani Bamak glacier in Uttarakashi district were rescued by Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP) personnel. A multi-agency rescue operation aided by Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters and comprised of personnel from ITBP, army, state and national disaster relief forces was underway to find at least 20 others still missing.

A 41-member group from NIM, including 34 trainees and seven instructors, were hit by an avalanche around 8.45 am on Tuesday while returning from high-altitude navigation from the Mount Draupadi Ka Danda-II peak (5,670 metres). The institute has confirmed that 17 have been rescued so far while four members have died. “Those brought back are being treated at local health care facilities,” Uttarkashi district disaster management officer Devendra Patwal said.

The expedition had started on September 14 and was to end on October 8. The group had started from Tel camp and reached the advance camp on October 2 at the base of the Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II peak. On October 4, they started ascend from the base at about 4 am.

“The weather was fine when we started (ascend),” said Lalwani, who hails from Mumbai.

Deep Thakur, another trainee, was in the second group metres behind the one Lalwani was part of. They were climbing with the fixed rope when the avalanche hit.

“I was thrown away and got stuck mid-way in a crevasse,” recalled Thakur. He was buried under the snow for two hours. “Breathing there was tough. An instructor saw me and saved my life,” said Thakur, who hails from Gujarat.

On Wednesday, the Uttarakhand police released a list of 28 trainee mountaineers who were missing in the avalanche at 17,000 feet. Bhatwari sub-divisional magistrate Chattar Singh Chauhan said 14 members of the team were airlifted to Matli in two sorties. “Of them, six have sustained minor injuries in the avalanche.”

A search is on to find the rest of the 41-member team of mountaineers who are believed to be stuck in the crevasse in Dokriani Bamak glacier. The trainees hail West Bengal, Delhi, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Among the four bodies recovered so far was that of ace mountaineer Savita Kanswal, who had set a national record by climbing Mount Everest and Mount Makalu within a span of 15 days earlier this year. She worked as an instructor at NIM and had accompanied the team of trainee climbers to Draupadi Ka Danda-II summit.

As news of the avalanche spread, families of several trainees started heading towards Uttarkashi. Among them was Ankit Dhar, brother of Atanu, a resident of Delhi and part of the team hit by avalanche.

Ankit said he last spoke to his brother on October 1 through satellite phone at NIM base camp. “He told us that they would ascend the next day,” said Ankit, who was on his way to Uttarkashi on Wednesday afternoon.

He was, however, upset with the institute for “not providing” them the information about the avalanche. “I was scrolling through social media when I came to know about the avalanche in Uttarkashi,” Ankit claimed. “We immediately phoned the institution, but there was no information about him.”

He further alleged that he could not get much information from the helpline number provided to them either. However, institute officials said they were hampered by lack of information from the avalanche site. “We provided whatever authentic information we had,” said a senior institute official, requesting anonymity.

Ashok Singhal, father of Rajat Singhal, a trainee from Gurugram in Haryana, alleged that NIM ignored their requests to consider forecast of bad weather.

“Days before they left, we requested the institute that they should consider the weather warning. They didn’t pay heed saying they had been conducting these programmes for decades,” Singhal told HT over a phone call. “Again, when an avalanche hit Kedarnath peak on September 22, we urged the institute to abort the expedition. They ignored the warning. We are paying the price of their negligence.”

NIM officials, however, said all weather warnings were taken into account during the expedition.

On Wednesday, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted an aerial survey of the affected area and announced ex gratia of ₹2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.

“Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh have taken stock of the situation,” he told reporters.

On Tuesday, officials of NIM said a team of 34 trainees and seven instructors was hit by the avalanche. An official of the Uttarakhand state disaster response force (SDRF), who did not wish to be named, however, told HT on Wednesday: “A member of the group which was hit by the avalanche said there was a group of 46 people who were climbing to the peak. There is a lot of confusion about the numbers.”

For the rescue operation, IAF has deployed two Cheetah choppers and one ALH helicopter from the Army helipad in Harsil, said Uttarkashi district disaster management officer Devendra Patwal.

“Our air operation has been stopped due to bad weather and poor visibility, though there was no fresh snow on Wednesday evening unlike Tuesday,” said Patwal. “In the morning, when choppers carried out sorties the weather was clear. However, the bodies couldn’t be seen on the surface… A team of SDRF and ITBP has already left from the base camp to advance camp along with NIM experts for the avalanche site. Army officials are also approaching the spot through the Bhukki route.”