10 dead, 18 missing after avalanche in Uttarakhand’s Danda-2 peak

Uttarakhand ,OCT  4 :A total of 10 bodies have been recovered from Draupadi’s Danda-2 mountain peak in Uttarakhand after an avalanche trapped over 20 people. They were all a part of a trekking group of 40 from Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, including 33 trainees and seven instructors. A total of 18 people are still missing.

The avalanche hit the team at 9 am at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The state disaster response force and national disaster response force were rushed to the spot to locate the group and rescue them.

According to Colonel Bisht, the principal of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, 10 bodies have been recovered so far and 18 are still missing out of 28 persons stranded after the avalanche.

Rapid relief and rescue operations are being carried out by the district administration, NDRF, SDRF, Army and ITBP personnel to rescue the mountaineers trapped in the avalanche in Draupadi’s Danda-2 mountain peak.

“Due to an avalanche on Draupadi’s Danda-2 mountain peak, 28 trainees of Nehru Mountaineering Institute, Uttarkashi have been reported trapped. I have requested the Raksha Mantri, Rajnath Singh, to expedite the rescue operation with the help of the army. He has assured us all possible help from the central government. A rescue operation is being conducted to get everyone out safely,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami tweeted.

The group left Uttarkashi for their climb on September 23.

PTI