Ten mountaineers killed in avalanche in Uttarkashi

At least 10 mountaineers reportedly lost their lives in an avalanche that hit Draupadi's Danda mountain peak in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district. They were part of a team of trainee mountaineers from Uttarkashi-based National Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) and were in the area doing an advanced course.

According to local reports, ten bodies were sighted, of which four had been recovered.

Uttarkashi's disaster management officer, Devendra Singh Patwal, told ET he was still waiting for a detailed report. He said his team was in touch with the NIM's control room.


The Uttarakhand government did not officially announce the number of lives lost in the avalanche.

Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP) and Indian Air Force (IAF) were engaged in the rescue operation, which was underway at the time of filing this report.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke to defence minister Rajnath Singh and sought help from the Army.

"We have received information about 28 trainees of the Nehru Mountaineering Institute being trapped following an avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak. I spoke to defence minister Rajnath Singh and requested help from the Army to speed up the rescue operation," CM Dhami tweeted.

According to him, relief and rescue operations were being conducted by the district administration, NDRF, SDRF, Army and ITBP personnel.

Reports from Uttarkashi said an avalanche hit the team around 9 am on Tuesday.