Uttarakhand: Search efforts for missing mountaineers hampered due to snowfall at avalanche site

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand), October 8

Search efforts for three missing mountaineers were hampered by heavy snowfall at an avalanche-hit site near the Draupadi ka Danda peak, while seven more bodies were handed over to the victims’ families on Saturday.

Twenty-nine members of a team from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) had gone missing after an avalanche hit them on their way back from their summit expedition September 4, according to the institute.

Twenty-six bodies have since been recovered and three mountaineers are missing.

Four bodies were brought down from the base camp on Friday and seven more on Saturday. Efforts to bring down the rest continue.

Four bodies were handed to the families of the victims in Uttarkashi, the NIM said.

Three bodies of trainees from Assam, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh were sent to the Himalayan Hospital, Jolly Grant, from where they will be carried to their respective destinations after embalming.

With the weather conditions obstructing the search efforts, the relatives of the missing mountaineers, who have come to Uttarkashi from various parts of the country, are getting impatient.

The aerial rescue operations can be resumed only after the weather improves, District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.