8 trekkers missing in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi amid snowfall

At least 14 people, including eight trekkers from West Bengal and Delhi, have gone missing at separate places in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district amid snowfall, officials said on Wednesday.

Jai Panwar, a consultant with the Uttarkashi district administration on disaster management, said, “Of the 11 missing from a trekking route, eight are trekkers while three are porters. Seven of the eight trekkers are from West Bengal while one is from Delhi. The three porters are locals.” He added on October 14, the eleven went trekking near Lamkhaga Pass on a 90km long route through the remotest valleys of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh and Gangotri in Uttarkashi.

“On Monday, due to snowfall in the area, 11 of them went missing. Six of them, all porters managed to reach an ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) camp in Chitkul village in Kinnaur and informed them... on Tuesday,” said Panwar. He added a local trekking agency in Uttarkashi informed the district disaster management department about the trekkers going missing on Wednesday.

“...the porters who returned told them (agency) that two of the trekkers are injured. The district disaster management department soon informed the air force which then sent one of its choppers for the search and rescue operation... The situation will be clearer after the team reaches the spot,” said Panwar.

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Three porters accompanying ITBP personnel to their posts near the India-China border in the district separately went missing on October 17.

“The ITBP officers...said the local porters had left for the border with ITBP men on October 15. However, on October 17, they got separated from the ITBP men due to heavy snowfall and went missing. The ITBP informed the district administration about this on Tuesday evening after which on Wednesday, a chopper of the air force left with the SDRF (State Disaster Relief Force) personnel to search for the missing people,” said Panwar. He added a team of ITBP personnel has also left from their base in Neelapani.