A climber from Assam – Deepshikha Hazarika, alongwith a team of 41 mountaineers was reported missing in the avalanche that struck Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand on Tuesday.
Deepshikha is a resident of Rajgarh in Assam’s Guwahati. She was listed among one of the trainee mountaineers and instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), who were reported ‘missing’ in the avalanche, while returning from Mount Draupadi Ka Danda II.
According to an official statement issued by the NIM, “The course arrived at Base Camp on September 25. As per the training schedule on October 4, the course moved for High Altitude Navigation and height gain to Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II (5670m) at 4.00 am while returning back from the mountain peak the Advance Mountaineering Course was met with an avalanche occurred above camp-1 in which 34 trainees and 7 mountaineering instructors were caught under avalanche at 08:45 hrs.”
“The Rescue work is in progress as of now four bodies have been recovered. SDRF, NDRF and Indian Air Force are helping in the rescue,” – added the statement.
Apart from Deepshikha, another mountaineer from northeast India was reported ‘missing’ in the avalanche. A member of the Meghalaya Sport Climbing & Mountaineering Association (MeSCMA), a Meghalaya-based mountaineer – Tiklu Jyrwa was listed among the trainee mountaineers and instructors from the NIM, who were reported ‘missing’ in the avalanche, while returning from Mount Draupadi Ka Danda II.
Jyrwa was selected earlier this year to participate in a basic mountaineering course at the National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (NIMAS) at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh.
Its worthy to note that the avalanche struck at an altitude of around 17,000 feet around 8.45 am when the team of 34 trainee mountaineers and seven instructors from Uttarkashi-based NIM was returning after summiting.
As per the Director General of Police (DGP) Uttarakhand, altogether 10 bodies have been recovered till now. Moreover, around 20 are still missing and search operation is underway. While, 14 out of the 41 mountaineers have been rescued thus far.
