Uttarkashi avalanche toll rises to 16, 13 still missing

Twelve more bodies were recovered on Thursday in a massive rescue operation in Uttarkashi two days after a team of mountaineering trainees and instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was hit by an avalanche, taking the death toll in the incident to 16 with 13 members of the expedition still missing.

Twelve people -- of the 41 who were part of the team -- have been rescued so far, the institute said in a statement.

The group of 34 trainees and seven instructors was hit by the avalanche at around 8.45am on October 4 near the Dokrani Bamak glacier while returning from a high-altitude navigation exercise at the Mount Draupadi Ka Danda-II peak (5,670 metres).

Of the 16 dead, 14 were identified as trainee mountaineers enrolled in an advanced mountaineering course at NIM. Four bodies, including that of ace mountaineer Savita Kanswal (26), who set a national record by climbing Mount Everest and Mount Makalu within a span of 16 days earlier this year, were recovered on Tuesday. Kanswal and another deceased, Naumi (24), worked as instructors at NIM and had accompanied the team of trainee climbers to the Draupadi Ka Danda-II summit.

“So far, 16 are confirmed dead while 13 others are missing,” NIM registrar Vishal Ranjan told HT. “Twelve people have been rescued.”

A 14-member team from the army’s High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) in Jammu & Kashmir’s Gulmarg has been roped in the rescue mission.

“The team from Gulmarg flew to a helipad at Matli before leaving for the site,” said Uttarkashi district disaster management officer Devendra Patwal. “Oxygen cylinders and other necessary material were sent to the accident site on Thursday,” he added.

Two army officers were also sent to the avalanche site with the help of Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Cheetah helicopter, he said.

“At the avalanche site, 42 people from NIM, 12 from Indo-Tibetan Border Police, eight from the State Disaster Relief Force, 14 from HAWS, and 12 from the army, are carrying out the rescue operations,” Patwal said, adding that the terrain and the weather were making rescue work difficult.

A 26-member army team is expected to reach the NIM base camp by Thursday evening through an alternative trekking route, he said.

According to officials on the ground, two Cheetah helicopters and one Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) have been deployed in the rescue operation.

“Bad weather at the higher altitude is stalling rescue operations as fresh snowfall, and poor visibility do not allow choppers to carry out sorties,” Patwal said.“The communication is possible only through two satellite phones of NIM and three of SDRF.”

The India Meteorological Department has issued a “red alert” in the area, forecasting “heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places” in districts in the Kumaon region and adjoining districts of the Garhwal region on Friday.