Uttarakhand avalanche news

Uttarkashi: Ten more bodies were recovered from the site of an avalanche here, taking the death toll to 26, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said on Friday. Two Cheetah helicopters took off from the Army helipad in Harsil to join the search operations, officials said. The avalanche occurred at a height of 17,000 feet on Tuesday when a team of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was returning after summiting Draupadi Ka Danda II peak. Uttarakhand avalanche: Three more bodies recovered, toll climbs to 19 Uttarakhand avalanche: Twice lucky in 12 years, recalls NIM instructor rescued from Draupadi Ka Danda Three more bodies were recovered from the avalanche site late on Thursday evening and seven were found on Friday, taking the total number of bodies retrieved so far to 26, the NIM said. While 24 of these bodies are of trainee mountaineers, two are of their instructors, it said. According to the NIM, three trainees are still missing. Fifteen bodies were recovered on Thursday, the NIM said. Four of the bodies that were being brought to Matli were taken to the Harsil helipad due to bad weather. From there, they were sent to Uttarkashi in ambulances, District Magistrate (DM) Abhishek Ruhella said. Not all the bodies have been identified yet. The relatives of the deceased who have been identified have been informed, he said. Inclement weather hampered aerial search efforts but they continued uninterrupted on the ground, the DM said. A heavy rain alert was issued by t...

The avalanche occurred at a height of 17,000 feet on Tuesday when a team of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was returning after summiting Draupadi Ka Danda II peak. Three more bodies were recovered from the avalanche site late on Thursday evening and seven were found on Friday, taking the total number of bodies retrieved so far to 26, the NIM said. While 24 of these bodies are of trainee mountaineers, two are of their instructors, it said. According to the NIM, three trainees are still missing. Fifteen bodies were recovered on Thursday, the NIM said. Four of the bodies that were being brought to Matli were taken to the Harsil helipad due to bad weather. From there, they were sent to Uttarkashi in ambulances, District Magistrate (DM) Abhishek Ruhella said. Not all the bodies have been identified yet. The relatives of the deceased who have been identified have been informed, he said. Inclement weather hampered aerial search efforts but they continued uninterrupted on the ground, the DM said. A heavy rain alert was issued by the meteorological department for several hill districts in Uttarakhand including Uttarkashi where schools were closed on Friday and disaster management teams were put on alert. NIM instructor Nayab Subedar Anil Kumar, who survived the tragedy, told PTI on Thursday that 33 climbers took shelter in a crevasse during the avalanche. Four bodies were pulled out of the crevasse on the day of the avalanche while 29 were still stuck, Kumar had said. ...

Image Source : PTI Uttarakhand: Woman dead, 5 others rescued as avalance hits Atlakoti In a heart-wrenching incident, a woman was killed while five others were rescued after a group of pilgrims were hit by an avalanche in Uttarakhand's Atlakoti on Sunday. Officials said a group of six pilgrims was stuck after a glacier fragment broke off at Atlakoti on the Hemkund Sahib Yatra route on Sunday evening. While five of them were rescued, a woman had gone missing after the incident. Following this, a joint search and rescue operation was launched by the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Later, the woman's body was recovered from the same area. According to officials, the deceased has been identified as Kamaljit Kaur. "A total of 6 Sikh pilgrims were trapped in this avalanche. ITBP and SDRF successfully rescued five pilgrims on Sunday. During the search this morning, the team found the body of a female pilgrim, Kamaljit Kaur, in the snow," SDRF commandant Manikant Mishra said. According to the SDRF commandant, the body of the woman was handed over to the local police by SDRF. Earlier on May 26, the yatra of Shri Hemkund Sahib, in Uttarakhand was halted for two days due to the snow lying on the route and an alert of heavy rains and after two days on May 28 resumed the yatra. The portal of Hemkund Sahib opened for devotees on May 20 earlier in the month. Earlier in the month, officials said that a ban was imposed on the travel of children a...

Meanwhile, more teams were sent to advance base camp from ITBP Matli today. A team of High Altitude Warfare School also joined search and rescue operation with ITBP, SDRF, NIM and NDRF. An advance helicopter landing ground was prepared at 16000 ft and a trial landing was successful conducted today morning. An expert team from Gulmarg has also reached to assist in rescue operations.