Two more members of the 11-strong trekking team which had gone missing on a trek to Chitkul in Himachal Pradesh via Harsil in Uttarakhand have been found dead, taking the death toll to seven, news agency PTI reported on Friday, 23 October.
Meanwhile, two members of the team had been found and rescued on Thursday.
A search is underway for the remaining members, officials said.
Two trekking groups had gone missing in October in Harsil and near Lamkhaga Pass.
“The bodies of seven trekkers have been recovered. Two have been rescued and two remain missing out of a group of 11 trekkers which had gone missing in Harsil. Five more bodies of trekkers from another group of 11 trekkers which went missing near Lamkhaga Pass have also been retrieved,” Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar told news agency ANI.
One of the teams, comprising eight trekkers and three cooks accompanying them had gone missing earlier in October. The group of seven tourists from Kolkata and one from Delhi, was supposed to reach Chitkul on 19 October.
Heavy Rains Lash Uttarakhand
Meanwhile, as rescue efforts continue in Uttarakhand after heavy rains earlier this week, the death count on Friday rose to 68, according to PTI.
On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured the people of rain-battered Uttarakhand that the Centre stands fully with them in this hour of crisis.
Briefing the media in Dehradun after conducting an aerial survey of the affected areas, Shah said that the Centre recently issued Rs 250 crore as Uttarakhand is prone to natural calamities.
He also said that the Centre has already released an assistance of Rs 749.60 crore as the Central share under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday visited Dungri village in Chamoli district to meet the people who had been affected by the disaster.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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