Avalanche and bad weather causes nine trekkers death in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand.
On May 29, a 22-member team of trekkers from the Karnataka Mountaineering Association mostly from Bengaluru, left for trekking to Sahastratal from Malla-Silla via Kush Kalyan Bugyal. After which they got stuck there.
During the trekking of Sahastratal located in the high Himalayan region, nine trekkers lost their lives due to getting lost due to bad weather. On receiving the information, the Uttarkashi district administration conducted a rescue operation and rescued 13 trekkers safely. Of these, 11 were airlifted. Two healthy trekkers were brought by the forest department team on foot. The bodies of five were found on Wednesday itself, while the bodies of the four missing trackers were brought to Bhatwadi yesterday. After the rescue operation was over, the SDRF team has also reached Uttarkashi.
All the trekkers who went to Sahastratal track in Uttarkashi were healthy, but suddenly the weather changed and storm started with avalanche and heavy rain. Meanwhile, it became difficult to pass through the already frozen snow along with dense fog. As soon as one trekker died due to extreme cold, others also died due to shock.
This is the statement of guide Rajesh who went with a 22-member trekking team on Sahastratal track. Guide Rajesh told to media that the 22-member trekking team had climbed Sahastratal situated at an altitude of about 14,500 feet between 11.30 am to 12.00 noon on June 3.
After successful climbing, the team came back near Pari Tal, about three km before the base camp on June 4, on the return, but the conditions suddenly changed there. It became difficult for the trekkers to get out of the snow accumulated from before with sudden heavy rain, storm and dense fog. While all the trekkers were healthy.
The cold was very intense there and the conditions were also not under control. Meanwhile, a trekker died due to extreme cold. Seeing him, other companions also got scared and four other trekkers also died due to this fear.
No one understood anything, suddenly the situation had changed. Rajesh told that after the incident, he walked about 18 km and informed the trekking agency and association about the incident.
According to the team, the bodies of Venkatesh Prasad (53), Padmandha Krishnamurthy (50), Anita Rangappa (60) and Padmini Hegde (34) were brought yesterday June 6. While the bodies of Sindhu Wakelam, Asha Sudhakar, Sujatha Mungarwadi, Vinayak Mungarwadi and Chitra Praneet were brought on Wednesday.
Trekkers who were rescued safely are Soumya Kanale, Smriti Dolas, Sheena Lakshmi, S Shiva Jyoti, Anil Jamtige, Bharat Bommana Goudar, Madhu Kiran Reddy, Jaiprakash BS, S Sudhakar, Vinay MK, Vivek Sridhar, Naveen A, Ritika Jindal.
Trekking in Uttarakhand is always not safe. Avalanche frequently struck in great Himalayan ranges. In past also accidents were happened during trekking such as:
Year 2021- Seven killed due to avalanche on Lamkhaga-Chitkul track
Year 2022- Avalanche during climbing Draupadi Ka Danda-2 peak- 28 killed, one missing.
Year 2023- Two trekkers died due to deterioration of health in Mori on Runsara Tala track.
Year 2023- One trekker died due to deterioration of health on Gangotri-Kalindikhal track.
Disclaimer: The present article is based on government sources. The purpose of this article to provide the correct and factual news to the readers.
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