The mortal remains of four of the five missing Navy personnel were recovered on Saturday. The five personnel from a 20-member expedition team went missing after being hit by an avalanche while attempting to summit Mt. Trishul in Uttarakhand.
“All out efforts continue to locate the fifth naval climber and one sherpa,” the Navy said. The four personnel were identified as Lt. Cdr. Rajnikant Yadav, Lt. Cdr. Yogesh Tiwari, Lt. Cdr. Anant Kukreti and Master Chief Petty Officer MCPO II Hari Om.
“Deeply anguished by the tragic death of four Navy personnel who were part of the Navy mountaineering expedition to Mt. Trishul. The nation has not only lost precious young lives but also courageous soldiers in this tragedy,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter. “My thoughts are with their families in this hour of tragedy. Praying for early locating of the remaining team members,” he said.
The team was flagged off from Mumbai on September 3 to summit Mount Trishul located at an altitude of 7,100 metres. Of them, 10 climbers had started on the final leg to the summit on Friday but were caught in the avalanche short of the summit. While five of them were safe, a massive search and rescue effort was launched for the five missing by the Army, Air Force and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
