In brief
An avalanche on Oct. 29 left eight people missing in Uttarakhand’s Kedartal valley. Seven trekkers, named Tapas Bauri, Ratan Ghosh, Manoj Khovas, Rintu Mandal and Uday Ghosh, and a guide, Deepika Verma, went missing after last contacting their trekking agency. A 10‑member rescue team was flown in but called off Monday evening because of rough weather, with hopes of resuming the search Tuesday.
Eight people are missing in the Kedartal area of Uttarakhand after an avalanche struck on Oct. 29, according to a local official. Seven trekkers—Tapas Bauri, Ratan Ghosh, Manoj Khovas, Rintu Mandal, Uday Ghosh, Deepika Verma and Vartika—along with their guide, were last in contact with their trekking agency on Oct. 29, Xinhua reported.
The group had begun a three‑day trek from Oct. 27. Heavy snowfall the next day caused the avalanche that trapped them, Xinhua said. The missing trekkers were all from West Bengal.
A 10‑member Mountain Rescue Team, consisting of six personnel from the State Disaster Response Force and four from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, was air‑lifted into the Kedartal valley Monday to search for the missing party, the Xinhua story noted.
Rescue work was halted that evening due to rough weather, Xinhua noted, but the operation is expected to resume Tuesday. The local official confirmed the cancellation and the planned restart in the following hours.
Other searches in the region have also faced delays. A helicopter‑based search failed to locate the group because of heavy snowfall, as reported by the Times of India. The unfolding rescue effort highlights the dangers trekkers face in the high peaks of northern India.