Uttarkashi avalanche: Bad weather hampers rescue effort

UTTARKASHI: Search efforts for the three missing mountaineers were hamstrung by heavy snowfall on Friday over the avalanche-hit site near the ‘Draupadi ka Danda’ peak.

Twenty-nine members of a team from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering had gone missing after an avalanche hit them on their way back from the summit, according to the NIM.

Twenty-six bodies have since been recovered and three are still missing.

Four out of twenty six bodies retrieved so far have already been handed over to their families. Efforts are on to bring down the rest.

With weather conditions obstructing the search efforts, relatives who have come to Uttarkashi from different parts of the country are getting impatient.

Aerial rescue operations can be resumed only after the weather improves, District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.