Chopper carrying SDRF rescue teams fly to Sahastratal
PrashantNews
Four trekkers were killed and several others were trapped in the high-altitude snowy mountains of Sahastratal in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, a top government official said today.
“A team of trekkers went to the high Himalayan region of Sahastratal in Uttarkashi district where they lost their way in bad weather. In the bad weather, four of its members died and 18 others got trapped,” the official said.
Two high altitude rescue teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) flew from Dehradun in a helicopter for Sahastratal in search of the trapped trekkers, SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra said.
The Air Force has also been requested to search and rescue the trekkers stranded on the Malla-Silla-Kushkalyan-Sahastratal track located at an altitude of 4100–4400 meters and to retrieve the bodies of the dead trekkers.
Under the ground operation, rescue teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Forest Department have been sent towards Sahastratal from different directions.
A ten-member Forest Department’s reconnaissance and rescue team has also reached beyond Silla village, while the SDRF team from the district headquarters Uttarkashi left for Budhakedar in Tehri district in the early hours.
According to the SDRF, a 22-member trekking team was sent by Himalayan View Trekking Agency, Maneri on May 29 on a 35 km long trek from Uttarkashi, which included 18 trekkers from Karnataka and one from Maharashtra and three local guides. This trekking team was to return by June 7.