Death toll from avalanche in India's Himalayan state rises to 10

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - The death toll from an avalanche in India's northern Himalayan state has risen to 10, with a search operation still underway to find 17 other mountaineers who are still missing since the incident, officials said on Wednesday.

Several agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force, launched operations on Tuesday after an avalanche in Uttarakhand state struck 41 trainees and instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.

Later, the Indian Air Force joined the search and rescue operation.

The bodies of four mountaineers were recovered by rescuers on Tuesday, and the latest statement issued by Uttarakhand Police said more bodies had been recovered, bringing the total to 10.

The police said 14 injured were rescued from the spot, with nine suffering minor injuries and five shifted to a district hospital in Uttarkashi.

Among the dead was ace Indian mountaineer Savita Kanswal, who had scaled Mount Everest and Mount Makalu "in just 16 days and set a national record," according to the local English daily Hindustan Times.

According to a statement issued by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering on Tuesday, "as per the training schedule on October 4, the course (advance mountaineering course, which began Sept. 14) moved for high altitude navigation and height gain to mountain Draupadi ka Dhanda-II (5,670 meters)."

"While returning back from the mountain peak, the advance mountaineering course was met with an avalanche occurred above camp-I in which 34 trainees and 07 mountaineering instructors were caught under avalanche at 8.45 hrs," it added.