Five trekkers from Karnataka die in Uttarakhand’s extreme weather conditions

The deceased were identified as Sindhu Wakelam, Asha Sudhakar, Sujata Mungurwadi, Vinayak Mungurwadi and Chitra Praneeth.

A 22-member trekking team was sent by Himalayan View Trekking Agency, Maneri, on 29 May on a 35-km long trek from Uttarkashi.

“Efforts are on to trace four more people. Due to bad weather operations were stopped on Wednesday afternoon. Operations will begin again on Thursday morning. We are coordinating with the Union government for the transportation of bodies to Bengaluru,” Byre Gowda said.

He also expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.

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Rescue operation in progress

According to available information, 11 trekkers were rescued and brought to Natin village in Uttarkashi by an Air Force helicopter.

Eight of them — Soumya Kanale, Smruti Dolas, Sheena Lakshmi, S Shiva Jyothi, Anil Bhatta, Bharat Bommanagoudar, Madhu Kiran Reddy and Jayaprakash BS — have been dropped at Sahastradhara in Dehradun and three — S Sudhakar, Vinay MK and Vivek Sridharare — are in Natin and are being brought to the district headquarters in Uttarkashi.

Two of them — Naveen A and Rittika Jindal — returned via Silla village to Uttarkashi.

The team constituted 18 trekkers from Karnataka and one from Maharashtra, besides three local guides, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht said.

The team was to return by 7 June, but lost its way due to bad weather as it approached Sahastratal from the last base camp, Bisht said.

The trekking agency later found that four members of the team had died and others were stranded, the DM had said.

It is learnt that the trekking was organised by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.

(With PTI inputs)