Uttarakhand avalanche: Toll climbs to 26; three still missing

Army personnel move towards the avalanche site to carry out rescue operations, in Uttarkashi district. Pic/PTI

Ten more bodies were recovered from the site of an avalanche, 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 in Uttarakhand.

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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.

Not all the bodies have been identified yet. The relatives of the deceased who have been identified have been informed, District Magistrate (DM) Abhishek Ruhella said.

The mountaineers who went missing after the avalanche were part of a team selected by the NIM for an advanced training course.

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