Nine trekkers succumbed reportedly due to harsh weather conditions in the upper Himalayas in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on Wednesday. All the nine slain trekkers were part of a 22-member trekking team. The trekkering team is said to have faced harsh weather conditions along Sahastra Tal trek.
Earlier, a joint rescue operation was launched by the Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local adminstration following which the 13 trekkers were rescued from the trek on Uttarkashi-Tehri
A 22-member trekking team, included 18 trekkers from Karnataka and one from Maharashtra besides three local guides. The trek was reportedly organized by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
The deceased trekkers have been identified as Sindhu Vakekalam (45), Asha Sudhakar (71), Sujata Mungurwadi (51), Vinayak Mungurwadi (54), Chitra Praneeth (48), Padmanabha Kundapur Krishnamurthy (50), Venkatesha Prasad KN (53), Anita Rangappa (60) and Padmini Hegde (34), all residents of Bengaluru in Karnataka.
Krishna Byre Gowda, Karnataka Minister for Revenue, took to micro-blogging site—X, saying, “We received information last night that a group of trekkers from Karnataka to high altitude Shastratal Mayali in Uttarakhand is caught in bad weather. The group has suffered loss of lives. The remaining are now at one of Kokhli Camp. We are working with District Administration, Uttarakhand Govt and Home Dept of Govt of India to rescue the stranded trekkers.”
“An Indian Air Force helicopter will reach Uttarkashi by 9 am today for rescue. In addition, Disaster Response Force has started approaching the camp by land this morning. Karnataka Govt has launched all efforts to do the best to rescue trekkers. Rescue operations have been launched with locally available helicopters. Two stranded trekkers have been rescued so far. Further rescue is in progress,” he further added.
