Location and fate of 27 climbers still uncertain, rescue and search will continue into the night

Of the 28 people who went missing, Vikram Raman from Tamil Nadu managed to withstand adverse weather and reach the safe camp.
SDRF teams leave from Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun to rescue the trainees trapped in an avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak. (Photo |PTI)
SDRF teams leave from Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun to rescue the trainees trapped in an avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak. (Photo |PTI)

Despite ongoing relief work on a war footing, only one trainee climber out of the 28 who went missing in Uttarkashi's Bhatwari tehsil area after being hit by an avalanche on Wednesday morning has been rescued safely.

Unfortunately, Savita Kanswal, the first Indian woman to climb both Mount Everest and Mount Makalu in just 16 days, also died in an avalanche in Uttarkashi on Tuesday. Nine people, including a 26-year-old climber, were killed when an avalanche hit draupadi's Danda-II mountain peak in Uttarkashi on Tuesday.

As per the latest update shared by the disaster management department, out of the total 62 members of the Advance Course Group that left for Draupadi Ka Danda-2 on Tuesday, around 30 climbers along with trainers are safe, bodies of four climbers have been recovered by the relief team.

Of the 28 people who went missing, Vikram Raman from Tamil Nadu managed to withstand adverse weather and reach the safe camp. The remaining 27 missing people are less likely to survive as they have moved into snow-capped cracks more than 100 feet deep.

Of the remaining 27 climbers, the rescue team is yet to get any clue even after 40 hours have passed. The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the four deceased climbers.

Relief and rescue operations will continue till late night if the weather remains clear. Earlier on Wednesday morning, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami himself reached the office of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi and took stock of the situation.

Dhami was accompanied by former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

At NIM's base camp, the chief minister collected complete information about the situation from senior officials of NIM, NDRF and SDRF, following which the chief minister took full stock of the situation with ITBP and Army officials at Harsil. After Harshil, the Chief Minister left directly for Dehradun.

According to NIM office, there were 33 trainees, 7 trainers and a nurse in the group who were on their way to Draupadi Ka Danda summit for mountaineering on wednesday morning when the avalanche hit them.

Twenty-seven people were still reported trapped in crevasse in the snow-capped mountainous region. The state government has sought the help of more Army helicopters flying continuously in the disaster zone
Relief operations in search of the missing trainee climbers will continue till late night, an official of the District Disaster Management Authority said.

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