Dehradun: The operation to rescue mountaineers trapped on the Draupadi ka Danda mountain peak in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, where an avalanche occurred on October 4, was delayed due to bad weather conditions on Friday morning.
Bhatwadi Branch Magistrate Chatar Singh said that four more bodies of the mountaineers in formation were brought in on Friday morning and will be taken for autopsy. “Four more bodies of mountaineers in training have been brought in this morning. The bodies are being brought in for autopsy. Their families have been informed,” Singh told ANI.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a total of 19 bodies have been recovered so far and he is monitoring the rescue operation.
“So far, 19 bodies have been recovered. The rescue operation is underway by teams from NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, the Indian Army and the district administration. I am also monitoring the rescue operation,” he said.
Earlier today, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar said that efforts are being made to get the bodies to Matli Heliport by Advanced Light Helicopter today.
Of the 19 bodies, four bodies were brought to the summit camp by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team deployed for the rescue operation, while 15 bodies were recovered at the incident site.
“From the summit camp, according to SDRF agent Sunil, the team has brought four bodies to the summit camp,” DGP Ashok Kumar said.
Personnel from various teams from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), the Air Force, the Army and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir has been deployed in the rescue operations, the official said.
NIM mountaineers participating in a training course were trapped in a glacier crevasse Tuesday morning after an avalanche reached the top. The team was returning after the top.
The NIM Advanced Training Course team included trainees and instructors. On Thursday, 12 more bodies were recovered.
Of the bodies recovered, 14 were trainees and two were instructors, Uttarakhand police said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami mourned the death of the mountaineers.
“The rescue teams are working continuously and I am monitoring the situation,” the prime minister said.
On Tuesday, around 41 trainees and instructors at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were hit by an avalanche. The institute said the Advanced Mountaineering Course started on September 14 at NIM Uttarkashi.
The course moved to the mountain on September 23 with 41 people – 34 interns and 7 instructors and a nursing assistant and arrived at Base Camp on September 25. According to the training schedule, the course switched to altitude training from October 2 to October 4. After reaching the top of Mount Draupadi ka Danda II, 5,670 meters high, the team was returning when the avalanche hit around 8; 45 am over Camp 1 in which 34 trainees and 7 instructors were trapped, according to an October 4 NIM statement. (AND ME)