Seven more bodies were recovered on Thursday, two days after a team of climbers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) were hit by an avalanche in Uttarkashi, the institute said. The recoveries take the death toll to 16 — two instructors and 14 trainees, ANI reported.
The avalanche hit Draupadi Ka Danda II peak at a height of 17,000 feet on Tuesday when the 61-member advance training course team of NIM was returning to their camp.
“Search and rescue operation is in progress at the disaster site. Heliborne operations have been stopped due to bad weather. Evacuation of dead bodies by helicopter will resume on October 7 morning depending on the weather conditions,” the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said in a statement.
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Several agencies, including the Army and ITBP, are aiding in the search and rescue operations. The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) in Uttarakhand said around 29 (two instructors and 27 trainees) were still missing.
Earlier in the day, a 14-member team from High Altitude Warfare School, based in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir, joined the rescue operation for the missing mountaineers, PTI reported.
The team, which specialises in high-altitude rescue operations, will help in the joint efforts by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and mountaineers from NIM in their efforts to find the missing climbers, the SEOC said in a statement.
Officials said that all the evacuated persons were being sent to the district hospital in Uttarkashi after being provided first-aid, IANS reported.
An advance helicopter landing ground was prepared at 16,000 ft and a trial landing was successful on Thursday, reported news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, trekking and mountaineering activities have been banned in Uttarkashi district for the next three days due to meteorological department’s rain and snow alert, informed Uttarkashi district magistrate.