Seven bodies were brought to Matli Helipad on Saturday from Draupadi ka Danda mountain peak in Uttarakhand, where an avalanche hit a team of mountaineers on the October 4 morning. The bodies were recovered on Friday as the death toll rose to 26. The search and rescue operation is in progress for the remaining three mountaineers.
“Seven dead bodies were brought from the advanced base camp to Matli helipad after they were recovered from the spot of the incident. We will try to recover more bodies as per the weather,” said Abhishek Ruhela, District Magistrate, Uttarkashi. According to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), as many as 29 persons including two instructors and 27 trainees went missing when the avalanche hit Draupadi ka Danda mountain peak in Uttarakhand.
“Search and Rescue operation is in progress at the disaster site. Helibome operation is ON. Evacuation of dead bodies by helicopter will be done depending on the weather conditions. Search and rescue in progress for remaining three trainees,” the NIM said in a statement. Personnel from various teams of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), the Air Force, the Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the High Altitude War School in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir have been deployed in the rescue operations.
The rescue operation is being hampered due to bad weather conditions. Sub Divisional Magistrate, Bhatwadi, Chatar Singh said that four more bodies of the trainee mountaineers were brought on Friday morning, which have been taken for post-mortem.
Mountaineers from the NIM participating in a training course were trapped in a glacier crevice on Tuesday morning after an avalanche hit the peak. The team was returning after summiting. About 41 trainees and instructors of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were hit by an avalanche. The institute said that the Advanced Mountaineering Course commenced on September 14 at NIM Uttarkashi.
The course moved to the mountain on September 23 with 41 people- 34 trainees and seven instructors and one nursing assistant. The group arrived at the Base Camp on September 25. As per the training programme, the course went on for high altitude training from October 2-October 4.
After summiting the 5670 metre altitude Mt Draupadi ka Danda II the team was on its way back when the avalanche struck at around 8:45 am above camp 1 in which 34 trainees and 7 instructors got caught, according to a release by the NIM on October 4.
