The toll from the Uttarkashi avalanche rose to 19 as three more bodies were recovered late on Thursday, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) said in a statement on Friday.
Twelve bodies were recovered earlier in the day as a rescue operation in Uttarkashi continued days after the avalanche hit a 41-member team of mountaineering trainees and instructors from NIM. Ten members of the expedition remained missing.
Twelve people have been rescued so far. Four bodies, including that of ace mountaineer Savita Kanswal, 26, who set a national record by climbing Mount Everest and Mount Makalu within 16 days earlier this year, were recovered on Tuesday.
The NIM statement said the search and rescue operation was in progress at the disaster site and that dead bodies will be flown on helicopters on Friday depending on the weather conditions. It added the search for 10 missing trainee mountaineers and instructors was underway.
Only four of the 19 bodies at NIM’s advance base camp (13,600 feet) have been flown out. “Efforts are on to bring them to Uttarkashi through the road. Bad weather prevails at Draupadi Ka Danda peak,” said district disaster management officer Devendra Patwal.
Of the 19 people found dead so far, 17 were trainees and two instructors.
The 41-member group was hit near the Dokrani Bamak glacier when it was returning from high-altitude navigation from Mount Draupadi ka Danda-2 peak (5,670 m) on Tuesday.