Nine trekkers from Karnataka die in Uttarkashi; Uttarakhand CM Dhami expresses grief

DEHRADUN, BENGALURU: Nine trekkers from Karnataka died after their team of 22 members lost their way and got trapped due to bad weather on the Sahastra Tal route  in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi. In the team of 22 trekkers, 18 belonged to Karnataka, one hailed from Maharashtra and three of them were local guides.

The deceased include Sindhu Vakelam, Asha Sudhakar, Sujatha Mungurawadi, Vinayak Mungurawadi, Chitra Paneeth, Padmanabha K P, Venkatesh Prasad K, Anitha Rangappa and Padmini Hegde.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday expressed grief over the death of the nine trekkers. In a post on X, CM Dhami informed that other 13 trekkers have been safely rescued.

“The news of the death of 9 trekkers in an accident caused by bad weather on Sahastra Tal track is very sad. The administration has rescued 13 trekkers safely by conducting a rescue operation and a rescue operation is being conducted with the help of SDRF, district administration and Air Force to save other people. I pray to God to give peace to the departed souls and strength to the bereaved families to bear this immense loss and for the speedy and safe release of the trapped trekkers”, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister said.

The Uttarakhand administration initiated ground and air rescue operations to save the remaining trekkers who were still stranded on the Sahastra Tal trek route.

“Upon receiving the information, the administration acted upon it promptly and a rescue team of 10 members comprising officials from the SDRF, Forest Department and Police officials immediately rushed for the rescue operation”, said Arpan Yaduvanshi, Superintendent of Police, Uttarkashi.

In a post on X, District Magistrate Uttarkashi said that NDRF troops are deployed in the rescue operations. “Sahastra Tal Rescue Operation, the second day’s rescue operation started. Two helicopters left for the site of the incident from Harshil. Today the weather is clear at the site of the incident. Necessary rescue vehicles and staff are deployed at Natin helipad. One ambulance is deployed at Matli helipad, NDRF jawans are deployed at Matli helipad”, DM Uttarkashi said.

In Bengaluru, Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda met the families of the deceased and said a plane will be chartered to bring back the bodies of the dead trekkers after post-mortem examination and embalming. “I am in touch with the chief secretary of Uttarakhand and we discussed all arrangements. We will charter a plane to bring back the bodies of the dead”, he said.

Those who were rescued include Sowmya Kenale, Smrithi Dolas, Sheena Lakshmi, S Shiva Jyothi, Anil Jamathige Arunachal Bhat, Bharat Bommanagoudar, Madhu Kiran Reddy, Jayaprakash B S, S Sudhakar, Vinayak M K, Vivek Sridhar, Naveen A and Rithika Jindal. They were all shifted to Dehradun in two batches on Wednesday and Thursday. (With Agency inputs)