Uttarakhand: 29 mountaineers trapped in avalanche in Uttarkashi, eight rescued

UTTARKASHI (UTTARAKHAND): An avalanche at Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district trapped 29 mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering on Tuesday, with a rescue operation already underway to bring them to safety, officials said.

Eight mountaineers were rescued by their team members and efforts are on to bring the rest to safety, Uttarkashi Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.

The team consisted of trainee mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) and their trainers, he said.

Draupadi Ka Danda is located at a height of 5,006 metres.

The National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and a team of mountaineers from the NIM have launched rescue operations, Dhami said in a tweet.

Dhami has also spoken to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and sought the help of the Army in expediting the rescue operations.