Uttarkashi avalanche: 26 bodies recovered so far, three still missing

Uttarkashi, October 7, 2022

A total of 26 bodies have been recovered so far from the site of an avalanche that struck the Draupadi Danda-2 peak in Uttarkashi.

A search operation is on for three more missing persons from the team of trainee mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).

Four out of the 26 bodies recovered were moved to the Army Helipad in Harshil, and then taken to the Uttarkashi District Hospital by an ambulance.

Officials said that two Cheetah helicopters are being used for the rescue operation, adding that attempts were being made to transfer the bodies to the Matli helipad which failed due to bad weather, following which the chopper with the bodies was made to land on the Harshil army helipad.

Four bodies were recovered on October 4, another 17 on October 6 and the rest on Friday by the rescue teams.

The avalanche had trapped about 30 trainee mountaineers of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).

The NIM had launched training for basic and advanced courses on September 22 at the Dokrani glacier.

A total of 122 people, including 97 trainees, 24 trainers and an officer of NIM, were involved in the basic training, while 53 people, including 44 trainees and nine trainers, were part of the advanced course.

IANS