Uttarakhand: 29 mountaineers trapped in Avalanche in state's Uttarkashi, 8 rescued

At least 29 trainee mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were trapped on October 4 after an avalanche at Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi.

As per reports, the rescue operation is underway to bring them to safety and so far eight mountaineers have been rescued.

''Efforts are on to bring the rest to safety,'' said Uttarkashi Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.

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

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and a team of mountaineers from the NIM have launched rescue operations. 

''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,'' he tweeted.

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