Nine Karnataka trekkers die in Uttarakhand after expedition hit by bad weather

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], June 6 (ANI): Nine trekkers from Karnataka, out of a team of 22, who were on expedition Sahastra Tal in Uttarakhand, have died after they were hit by adverse weather conditions.

Uttarakhand’s State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) recovered four more bodies from the incident site after five bodies were recovered yesterday. After the completion of the rescue operation by the SDRF team, the bodies were brought to Bhatwadi via helicopter.

The deceased have been identified as Venkatesh, Padanadh Kundapur Krishnamurthy, Anita Rangappa and Padmini Hegde, all hailing from Bengaluru in Karnataka.

The recovered bodies were sent for post-mortem in Uttarkashi district.

Uttarakhand Police said on X that the rescue operation to search for the trekkers trapped on Sahastra Tal track has been completed.

“In this operation, 13 trekkers were rescued safely yesterday…The number of trackers who died in the accident has reached nine. Eight trackers who were rescued safely have been sent to Dehradun. Five others are being sent to Dehradun today. All the nine bodies recovered from the spot will be brought to the District Hospital Uttarkashi for postmortem and then sent to Dehradun by Air Force helicopter,” it said.

Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah has expressed his condolences on the demise of trekkers.

“Deeply saddened to hear about the demise of five trekkers from our state due to adverse weather conditions in Sahastra Tal, Uttarakhand. I pray for the peace of the departed souls,” he said in a post on X.

“Eleven trekkers have already been safely rescued through ongoing operations, but several more are still in need of rescue. The harsh weather is severely hampering the rescue efforts, yet our government is making every possible effort to bring everyone back safely,” he added.

Siddaramaiah said Karnataka Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has been tasked with overseeing the rescue operations in Dehradun. He said both local and army helicopters will be used to ensure the safe return of people.

On Wednesday, SDRF teams recovered five bodies. The other trekkers were rescued.