Saturday, 02 October 2021 | PNS | Joshimath
Five mountaineers and one sherpa are reported missing after an Indian Navy expedition to Mount Trishul in Uttarakhand was hit by an avalanche early on Friday morning. Search and rescue efforts are underway though bad weather is said to have affected the efforts from Joshimath.
A 20-member team was on an expedition to the 7,120 metres high Mount Trishul. On Friday, a 10-member group began the ascent but was caught in an avalanche at a height of 6,700 metres. Five climbers and one Sherpa went missing after the avalanche which took place early morning at about 5 AM.
According to officials, a search and rescue team was also sent from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) after news of six members of the expedition team missing was received. The team is headed by NIM principal colonel Amit Bisht. After arriving at the army helipad in Joshimath, Bisht said that inclement weather was preventing his team from departing from Joshimath. They were waiting for the weather to clear. Meanwhile, army and air-force were conducting search and rescue operations.
According to official sources, a multi-agency team has been deployed for the search and rescue operations involving the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF)
The 20-member expedition was flagged off at Mumbai on September 3 and 10 climbers had started the final leg of their journey to the summit on Friday morning when they were caught in the avalanche. It is pertinent to mention here that Mount Trishul is located in western Kumaon region of Bageshwar district adjoining the Chamoli district.
