5 trekkers found dead in Kinnaur; 4 still missing, two rescued

A team of 17 trekkers had left Harsil in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district for Chitkul in Kinnaur on October 11. On Wednesday evening, six of them reached Kinnaur and informed the administration that several others had gotten trapped in the snow in Lamkhaga Pass amid inclement weather.

The Lamkhaga Pass, located at an altitude of 20,000 feet above sea level, is one of the toughest passes which connects Kinnaur with Uttarkashi.

Sadiq said the Army and the ITBP launched a rescue operation Thursday morning and recovered the bodies of five trekkers from snow at different places. The bodies will be airlifted to Uttarkashi on Friday, he added.

Of the two trekkers who were rescued, the condition of one is said to be very critical, he said. , adding A trekker and a guide have been rescued. The trekker has been taken to Uttarkashi through a chopper, while the guide is with army soldiers and he too will be airlifted Uttarakhand on Friday, he added.

The rescue operation had to be suspended due to bad weather at 2 pm on Thursday, the official said, adding that it would resume on Friday at 6:30 am.

As per reports, a team of eight trekkers from West Bengal, one from Delhi and three cooks left from Harsil on October 11 through a trekking agency. They had obtained an inner line permit from the Uttarkashi Forest Department from October 13 to 21.

The team members have been identified as Anita Rawat (38) from Delhi, and Mithun Dari (31), Tanmay Tiwari (30), Vikash Makal (33) Saurav Ghosh (34) Saviayan Das (28), Richard Mandal (30) and Suken Manjhi (43), all from Kolkata. The cooking staff have been identified as Devendra (37), Gyan Chandra (33) and Upendra (32), all from Purola in Uttarkashi.

SDPO Bhavnagar Raju said the rescue team is yet to identify the bodies.