Eight people — seven trekkers from West Bengal and a local guide — were stranded on the Kedartal trek in Uttarakhand after an avalanche blocked the route, The New Indian Express reported on Saturday, October 31. Kedartal is a high-altitude glacial lake in the Gangotri region of Uttarkashi district, reached by a steep trek from Gangotri.

Source: The New Indian Express

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Forest Department have launched a rescue operation to reach the stranded group, Inshorts reported. Inshorts said a group of 13 people had gone on the trek, of whom four have been found safe; it did not give a fuller breakdown of the group in the report read, and Awaaz Punjab is reporting the figures exactly as the sources stated them.

Source: Inshorts

Rescue operation under way

No casualties had been reported in the sources read when this story was published, and no official statement on the condition of the eight stranded people had been carried in those reports. The reports did not state when the avalanche struck. This story will be updated as the rescue operation produces confirmed information from the agencies involved.

Source: The New Indian Express