Death toll climbs to 26 in India avalanche that buried mountaineers

New Delhi, Oct 8 (EFE).- Indian authorities on Saturday said that the death toll from an avalanche, that buried mountaineering students and instructors earlier this week has risen to 26, while 3 people remain missing.

“We have recovered 26 bodies in total, out of this, 7 bodies were recovered today. Three people remain missing,” said Surinder Singh Chauhan, the spokesperson of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

He told EFE that search and rescue operations were still continuing despite adverse weather conditions.

The NIM is an elite climbing institute in Uttarakhand which trains both military personnel and civilians.

A group of 34 students of the advanced mountaineering course and six instructors were climbing the Draupadi ka Danda II peak – which is situated in the Himalayas and has an altitude of around 5,670 meters – when they were hit by an avalanche on Tuesday.

So far, the evacuation of bodies from the mountain has proved to be difficult as helicopter operations were affected by bad weather, Chauhan said.

The NIM was established in 1965 by the Indian defense ministry and continues to operate in association with the body, offering basic and advanced mountaineering courses.

The advanced training course is of 28 days and includes rock and ice climbing techniques as well as climbing the peak hit by the disaster. EFE

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