In brief
An avalanche on October 29 left seven trekkers and a guide missing in the Kedartal area of Uttarakhand. A ten‑person Mountain Rescue Team was air‑lifted to the valley, but rough weather forced the operation to pause for the day. The missing group, which include six West Bengal nationals and a guide named Deepika Verma, are set to be searched again tomorrow.
Eight people—seven trekkers and a guide—have been missing for six days after an avalanche struck Uttarakhand’s Kedartal area on Oct. 29. The accident followed a three‑day trek that began Oct. 27, with the group last contacting their trekking agency for help on the day of the avalanche. A local official confirmed the missing status on Tuesday.
A ten‑member Mountain Rescue Team, composed of six State Disaster Response Force personnel and four from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, was air‑lifted to the Kedartal valley on Monday to search for the missing party. Three porters and one cook were rescued three days earlier, according to the official.
Search and rescue work was called off on Monday evening after the team encountered severe, rough weather that made the valley too dangerous for continued operations. The operation is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, as the official reported.
Names of the missing persons have been identified by the authorities. They include Tapas Bauri, Ratan Ghosh, Manoj Khovas, Rintu Mandal, Uday Ghosh—all from West Bengal—along with guide Deepika Verma and a third name that remains incomplete in the initial reports.
