New Delhi: Six mountaineers with minor injuries were brought to a helipad on Wednesday from Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarkashi district as search operations resumed to trace climbers missing after a massive avalanche hit the area at a height of 17,000 feet.

A 41-member team of mountaineers was returning after climbing the peak when they were hit by the avalanche on Tuesday. Times of India has quoted the Uttarakhand Director General of Police as having said that a total of 10 bodies have been found and around 20 are missing.

Ace mountaineer Savita Kanswal, who had set a national record by climbing Mount Everest and Mount Makalu within a span of 15 days, is among those killed.

Kanswal worked as an instructor at Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) and had accompanied the trainee climbers to Draupadi Ka Danda-II.

The list of trainees issued by the Uttarakhand Police includes those from West Bengal, Delhi, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Haryana, Gujarat, Hmachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttarakhand Police has tweeted that the six mountaineers were brought to the Matli helipad and have "normal" injuries. They are being given first aid, the official said.

Search and rescue operations resumed on Wednesday with four ITBP jawans dispatched in Cheetah and ALH helicopters to Dokrani Glacier in search of the missing mountaineers.

According to NIM Principal Colonel Amit Bisht, 10 bodies were spotted on Tuesday out of which four were recovered.

Rescue operations had to be halted due to darkness and inclement weather on Tuesday.

The avalanche struck at about 8.45 am on Tuesday when the team of trainee mountaineers and instructors from NIM was returning after summitting, Colonel Bisht had said.

The team members got stuck in crevasses following the avalanche, he had said.

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