5 Indian Navy Mountaineers Missing After Avalanche Hits Mount Trishul In Uttarakhand

A search operation is continuing for six people, including five mountaineers of the Indian Navy and one porter who went missing on Friday at Mount Trishul in Uttarakhand's Bageshwar district after being hit by an avalanche.

The team was about to reach the peak of Mount Trishul, on Friday when the avalanche struck.

Mount Trishul

A 20-member team of mountaineers of the Indian Navy had embarked on an expedition to the 7, 120 metre Mount Trishul 15 days ago and the avalanche hit the area around 5 am Friday.

A rescue team from Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering led by its principal Colonel Amit Bisht has left for the avalanche-hit area in search of the missing, a statement from NIM said.

The team of rescuers has reached up to Joshimath but bad weather is impeding their progress, the statement said.

¡°Search and Rescue operations for five members of the Indian Navy mountaineering expedition to Mt Trishul, caught in an avalanche near summit camp is being progressed by the ground rescue team and helicopters¡± a Navy statement said.

The 20 member expedition was flagged off from Mumbai on 03 Sep 21. Ten climbers had started their climb to the summit this morning, but were caught in an avalanche short of the summit. While 5 of the 10 are safe SAR for remaining 5 is in progress (2/2).

¡ª SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) October 1, 2021

A combined team of Indian Army, Air Force and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) assisted by a helicopter are engaged in rescue operations, it said.

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Mount Trishul which means trident, a weapon associated with lord Shiva, is a group of three Himalayan peaks located in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand.

The adventure wing of the Indian Navy had informed NIM authorities about the incident around 11 am and sought the help of the institute's search and rescue team.