Ten people are still missing. At least 19 people died in an avalanche that occurred on Tuesday October 4 in the Indian Himalayas, according to a new report from the authorities on Friday. The group of climbers, consisting of 34 apprentices from a local mountaineering institute, seven instructors and a nurse, fell victim to an avalanche near the summit of Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II, at an altitude of 4 880 meters in the state of Uttarakhand (India).
“Nineteen bodies have been found. Ten people are still missing”Ridhim Aggarwal, of the state disaster agency, told AFP. “Relief operations have resumed for the day but are subject to the weather. The weather is bad”she added.
Sunil Lalwani, one of the surviving climbers, said the group’s instructors had saved many lives. “We were 50 or 100 meters from the summit with our instructors in front of us, when suddenly an avalanche hit us and took everyone away”remembered the survivor, quoted Thursday by the daily Hindustan Times (link in English). “It happened in seconds and we were thrown into a crevasse. We somehow managed to breathe (…) It’s thanks to them (the instructors) that we are alive today.”
Veteran mountaineer Savita Kanswal, a member of the instructor team, was among the dead. Earlier this year, she summited Everest and nearby Mount Makulu in just 16 days, a women’s record.