Avalanche in Uttarakhand's Danda-2 peak; 10 trainee mountaineers killed

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.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that rapid relief operations are presently underway to rescue those trapped and all of whom are trainees at Nehru Mountaineering Institute in Uttarkashi.

"Due to avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak, 28 trainees of Nehru Mountaineering Institute, Uttarkashi have been reported trapped," he wrote.

"After talking to the Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh, we have requested to take the help of the army to speed up the rescue operation, for which he has assured us to give all possible help from the central government. A rescue operation is being conducted to rescue everyone," he further wrote.

Earlier, on October 1, an avalanche occurred behind the Kedarnath shrine in the state but no damage was caused to the temple, the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee President informed.

As per the information, the giant glacier behind Kedarnath was broken for the second time since last month and appeared like a watershed from a distance.

Prior to that, an avalanche occurred in the catchment area of Chorbari Glacier on the evening of September 22. Chorabari Glacier is situated at a distance of about 5 km behind Kedarnath Temple. It has been raining heavily in the state for the last few days.