Bodies of 4 more trekkers en route to Sahastra Tal recovered, 13 survivors rescued

The bodies of four more trekkers from Bengaluru who died during a trek to Sahastra Tal were recovered on Thursday, completing the retrieval of bodies of all nine victims, officials said. Thirteen trekkers have been rescued safely, SDM Brijesh Kumar Tiwari said, adding that the rescue operation aided by Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters is over.

The bodies of five persons, including a 71-year-old woman, who were part of the same trekking group were recovered on Wednesday, the officer said.

The 22-member trekking team from Bengaluru was sent by Himalayan View Trekking Agency, Maneri, on May 29 on a 35-km long trek from Uttarkashi, according to officials.

SDM Tiwari said the four more bodies recovered on Thursday were brought down to Bhatwari. They were identified as Venkatesh Prasad (53), Padmanadha Kundapur Krishnamurthy (50), Anita Rangappa (60) and Padmini Hegde (34).

The five deceased found the previous day had been identified as Sindhu Vakekalam (44), Asha Sudhakar (71), Sujatha Mungurwadi (52), Vinayak Mungurwadi (55) and Chitra Praneeth (48), he added.

The team was to return by June 7, but lost its way due to bad weather as it approached Sahastra Tal from the last base camp, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht had said.

The trekking agency later found that four members of the team had died and others were stranded, following which land and aerial rescue operations were launched in search of the trekkers, he had said.

The IAF was also roped in to rescue the stranded trekkers and find the bodies of those who died, according to officials.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had on Wednesday instructed the officials concerned to take necessary action for safe rescue of trekkers and to bring the bodies of the deceased to the state immediately.