Uttarakhand: 9 Bengaluru Trekkers Confirmed Dead as 4 More Bodies Found

Officials confirmed on Thursday that nine trekkers from Bengaluru died in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, after bad weather hit their 22-member team on a trek to Sahastra Tal on Tuesday afternoon. Four more bodies found on Thursday. The decease identified as Asha Sudhakar, 71, Anitha Rangappa, 55, Venkatesh Prasad K, 53, Vinayak Mungurwadi, 52, Sujata Mungurwadi, Padmanabha KP, 50, Chitra Praneeth, 48, Sindhu Wakelam, 44; and Padmini Hegde, 34.

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Five bodies had already recover, but Thursday morning the bodies of Padmanabha, Prasad, Rangappa and Hegde were found. All the other team members have rescue. According to an official from the Karnataka disaster management department, a blizzard struck around 2 pm on Tuesday, taking 19 trekkers from Karnataka and three local guides on a high-altitude trek to Sahastra Tal.

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Dead as Weather Turns Deadly, Says Karnataka Minister

Twenty hikers and guides left the Lambtal campground early on June 3rd and headed towards Sahastra Tal. They were heading back to the camp. It started to snow at 2 pm, while they were still one and a half to two hours away from camp. The snow turned into a storm around 4 pm.

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Bad weather claimed the lives of two trekkers by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who is now in Uttarakhand.

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IAF Helicopters Evacuate Survivors and Retrieve Bodies Amid Uttarakhand Blizzard

“On the evening of June 4, a guide succeeded in locating a phone signal and informed about the circumstances. Agencies were notified by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and the Karnataka Mountaineering Association. On June 4, the governments of Uttarakhand and Karnataka began their preparations. On June 5, at five in the morning, the Army, Air Force, SDRF (State Disaster Response Force), and other government agencies and organisations were prepared to begin the rescue operations, he added.

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“Racing against time, #IAF helicopters have successfully evacuate three survivors and the mortal remains of five trekkers, out of the 15 trekkers who were trap in severe weather while trekking to Sahastra Tal, Uttarkashi,” the Indian Air Force (IAF) stated in a post on X on Wednesday.

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Owing to the steep terrain and high altitude, two lightweight Cheetah helicopters carried out the rescue from the higher ground to the base camp and then used medium lift Mi17 V5 helicopters to take them to the closest medical facility.