At least 19 people have been confirmed dead after an avalanche slammed climbers in the Indian Himalayas, according to authorities. Bad weather has hampered search and rescue attempts for the fourth consecutive day.
A group of climbing students and instructors were caught in a big snowslide on the summit of Mount Draupadi ka Danda II in Uttarakhand on Tuesday.
“Nineteen bodies have been recovered. 10 individuals remain missing, “Ridhim Aggarwal, a spokesperson for the state disaster department, told AFP.
She said, “Rescue activities have restarted for the day, but are weather dependent.” The weather is unpleasant.
Despite snow and rain, 32 individuals were safely rescued from the mountain with the assistance of police, disaster authorities, and the Indian air force.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police said on Thursday that a helicopter landing location had been established near the avalanche site at a height of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet).
At the ITBP Matli helipad station on October 5, 2022, personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) take position in preparation for a rescue mission for missing mountaineers buried by an avalanche. Indo-Tibetan Border Police /AFP courtesy of Getty Images
One of the rescued student climbers, Sunil Lalwani, commended the instructors with saving several lives.
The Hindustan Times on Thursday cited Lalwani as saying, “We were 50 to 100 meters from the summit with our teachers in front of us when an avalanche suddenly struck and swept us all down.”
“We were thrown into a crevasse in a couple of seconds. Somehow, we were able to breathe… They are the reason we are alive today.”
The climber Savita Kanswal, who had summited Everest this year, was among the bodies retrieved earlier in the week.
Kanswal, an instructor on the trip, had set a women’s record by summiting the world’s highest peak and adjacent Makalu in only 16 days.
After receiving first aid, evacuees rest at the ITBP Matli helicopter station on October 5, 2022, after being evacuated during a rescue mission for missing climbers hit by an avalanche in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. Indo-Tibetan Border Police / AFP courtesy of Getty Images
In the Himalayas, home to Everest and a number of the world’s tallest peaks, fatal climbing mishaps occur often.
Two months after he fell into a crevasse while traversing a glacier in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, his body was found in August.
The body of famed American ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson was discovered on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak last week after she went missing while skiing down the eighth-highest mountain in the world.
Anup Rai, a Nepalese climber, was killed and a dozen others were injured in an avalanche on the peak on the same day.
Although no considerable research has been conducted on the effects of climate change on mountaineering dangers in the Himalayas, climbers have observed widening crevasses, running water on once snow-covered slopes, and an increase in glacial lake formation.