Ten mountaineers were killed in an avalanche at Mount Draupadi Ka Danda – II peak in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Tuesday (October 4), said officials.
Avalanche at base camp of #MountManaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world.#Avalanche #Nepal #Avalanche #UttarakhandAvalance #Danda2peak pic.twitter.com/3h3t0xoF38
— Harish Deshmukh (@DeshmukhHarish9) October 4, 2022
A team of 34 trainee mountaineers and seven instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was caught in an avalanche while returning, NIM Principal Colonel Amit Bisht said.
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Ten bodies were sighted of which four have been recovered, he added. The avalanche occurred at 8:45 am, he said. Uttarkashi Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said eight of those trapped were rescued by their team members.
Uttarakhand | SDRF teams leave from Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun to rescue the trainees trapped in an avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak pic.twitter.com/kYRRgLAwwh
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) October 4, 2022
The National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and a team of mountaineers from the NIM have launched rescue operations, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a tweet.
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The chief minister also spoke to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the phone and sought the help of the army in expediting rescue operations.
(With inputs from agencies)