The toll in the Uttarkashi avalanche rose to 26 on Friday after rescue teams retrieved seven more bodies from the site, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said, according to ANI.
The avalanche had hit the Draupadi Ka Danda II peak in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand at 4 am on Tuesday. The peak is located in the Gangotri range of the Garhwal Himalayas at a height of 5,670 metres.
Twenty-four of those who died were trainee mountaineers, while the two others were their instructors, said the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Savita Kanswal, who became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest and Mount Makalu in a record time of just 16 days earlier this year, is among those who died in the avalanche, according to PTI.
Four bodies were recovered on October 4 and 15 on Thursday. The bodies of seven persons have been recovered till now on Friday.
Three trainees are still said to be missing, according to the institute.
The National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the Indian Air Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, along with a team from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, are conducting search and rescue operations in the area. The Army’s High Altitude Warfare School at Gulmarg also joined the rescue operation on Thursday, reported The Times of India.
Forty-one persons, including 34 trainees and seven mountaineering instructors, were hit by the avalanche at 4 am on Tuesday as they were returning from the mountain peak. On Wednesday, 14 mountaineers from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were rescued, reported PTI.
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