UTTARKASHI: Ten mountaineers were killed in an avalanche at Mount Draupadi Ka Danda - II peak in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Tuesday, officials said.
A team of 34 trainee mountaineers and seven instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was caught in an avalanche while returning, NIM Principal Colonel Amit Bisht said.
Ten bodies were sighted, of which four have been recovered, he added. The avalanche occurred at 8.45 am, he said.
Uttarkashi Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said eight of those trapped were rescued by their team members.
"Rapid relief and rescue operations are being carried out by the district administration, NDRF, SDRF, Army and ITBP personnel along with the team of NIM to rescue the trainees trapped in the avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak at the earliest," tweeted the Chief Minister.
A SDRF team left from Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun has rushed to rescue the trainees trapped in avalanche for rescue work.
CM Dhami said that he has spoken to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and requested for help from the army to speed up the rescue operation.
"He has assured us to give every possible help from the Centre. A rescue operation is being conducted to bring out everyone," Dhami said.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also took to Twitter and expressed his anguish to the loss of lives and consoled the bereaved families who lost their family members.
"Deeply anguished by the loss of precious lives due to landslide which has struck the mountaineering expedition carried out by the Nehru Mountaineering Institute in Uttarkashi. My condolences to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones," Rajnath Singh said in a tweet.
"Spoke to CM Uttarakhand, Shri @PushkarDhamiand took stock of the situation. Rescue operations are underway to help the mountaineers who are still trapped. I have instructed the IAF to mount the rescue and relief ops. Praying for everyone's safety and well-being," Singh said.