The bodies of two mountaineers from Bengaluru were recovered from Mount Draupadi Ka Danda-2 peak in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Sunday as members of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering got trapped after being hit by an avalanche recently.
Vikram M. and Rakshit K. were missing after the incident and the Army, ITBP, SDRF, and Air Force teams that were engaged in rescue operations recovered their bodies and identified them, according to Lokesh M.R., vice-president of Karnataka Mountaineering Association.
“The bodies were identified by their relatives who were present in Uttarakhand, and the bodies will reach Bengaluru by tomorrow,” Mr. Lokesh told The Hindu.
Vikram was resident of Whitefield and Rakshit lived in Srinagar. “I know Rakshit personally. He was passionate about mountaineering and he was member of Karnataka Mountaineering Association,” Mr. Lokesh added. The families of the two youths were not available for comment.
People who were caught in the avalanche were taking part in the Advance Mountaineering Course organised by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at the Draupadi Ka Danda Mountain peak earlier this week. Starting on September 14, a total of 61 people, including trainees, instructors, and a nursing assistant, were participating in the exercise.
As per the training programme, the participants went for high-altitude training at Camp-1. As per the training schedule on October 4, the course moved to High Altitude Navigation and the height gained to Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II (5,670 m). While returning from the mountain peak, the participants were hit by an avalanche.
