Uttarkashi: Authorities have roped in soldiers from the High Altitude Warfare School Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir to trace the 20 mountaineers trapped by an avalanche at Draupadi's Danda-2 peak in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district. So far 10 bodies have been recovered on Tuesday and 14 climbers have been rescued when they were struck by the avalanche.
A search is on for 20 missing people. A multi-agency rescue operation aided by IAF helicopters is underway to find several others, who went missing. It may be noted that a group of 44 mountaineers of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, who went out for training in the high Himalayan region, hit by an avalanche near Draupadi's Danda 2 mountain peak on Tuesday morning.
Also read: Uttarkashi avalanche: 14 rescued, search operations on to trace missing mountaineers
Savita Kanswal, an ace mountaineer, who summited Mount Everest and Mount Makalu within 15 days is among the dead. On Tuesday, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami took stock of the rescue and relief operations by conducting an aerial survey. He has directed the officials to expedite the relief and rescue work. The Chief Minister has directed to provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh to the seriously injured and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Principal of the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) Col Amit Bisht said on Tuesday that 10 bodies were spotted out of which four had been recovered.
