Trekkers missing in Uttarakhand: 9 is the toll; helicopters are pulled in for rescue operations.
On Wednesday, inclement weather caught a group of 22 trekkers en route to Sahastra Tal in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, and they went missing. -A group of 22 trekkers goes lost while traveling in Sahastra Tal in Uttarakhand. -Day 2 of the search and rescue operation results in 9 dead and 13 rescued. -Helicopters are called in to conduct the rescue mission.
On Thursday, search and rescue efforts to locate missing hikers in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, resumed for the second day. As the operation went on, thirteen hikers were rescued and the dead toll rose to nine. Only five bodies have, however, been found thus far.
Twenty-two hikers who were headed to Sahastra Tal in Uttarakhand on Tuesday vanished from sight after becoming stuck on a peak at a height of 15,000 feet near the border between Uttarkashi and Thirtie.
The hiking team, which consisted of three guides from Uttarkashi, one from Maharashtra, and eighteen members from Karnataka, had left on a trekking expedition to Sahastra Tal on May 29 and was scheduled to return on June 7. This information was provided by Uttarkashi District Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht.
He said that because of the exceptionally poor weather, they became stranded at the top of Kufri on Tuesday at approximately 4 p.m.
Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were dispatched to the Kush Kalyan base camp, the starting point of the trek, for rescue and relief after the event was reported to the Uttarkashi and Tehri Disaster Management Centre.
Thirteen people have been rescued and five deaths were reported yesterday, rising to nine on Thursday. Two helicopters and NDRF members have been dispatched to conduct the rescue effort. At the Matli Helipad, an ambulance has also been stationed.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, apologized for the tragedy and promised to provide the necessary relief. Help was also being enlisted from the Air Force.
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