Nine trekkers from Bengaluru, out of a team of 22, have been confirmed dead with their bodies recovered from Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi. The team of 22 were on a trekking expedition to Sahastra Tal when they were faced with bad weather on June 4.
While other members of the team have been rescued, the deceased have been identified as Asha Sudhakar (71), Anitha Rangappa (55), Venkatesh Prasad K (53), Vinayak Mungurwadi (52), Sujata Mungurwadi (52), Padmanabha K P (50), Chitra Praneeth (48), Sindhu Wakelam (44) and Padmini Hegde (34), all residents of Bengaluru.
The bodies of Padmanabha, Prasad, Rangappa and Hegde were recovered today.
All nine of the victims were a part of a group of trekkers from The Karnataka Mountaineering Association. This was the seventh expedition of the association this month. “I had just come after finishing an expedition in Nepal when the incident took place. I am in Joshimath now. All the deceased are experienced trekkers,” Srivatsa S, secretary of the Karnataka Mountaineering Association said, The Indian Express reported. The bodies were shifted to Joshimath this morning.
An official from the Karnataka disaster management department reported that 19 trekkers from Karnataka, accompanied by three local guides, were caught in a blizzard around 2 PM on Tuesday while undertaking a high-altitude trek at Sahastra Tal.
The team had 18 trekkers from Karnataka and one from Maharashtra, while the remaining were local guides.
In a statement released by the office of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the team commenced their trek on June 4 in the high altitude area of Shastratal Mayali. Once they reached the destination, the team tried to get back to the camp, however, they were hit by bad weather at 2 pm due to a blizzard and they were stranded.
(With agency inputs)