Hours after a group of 12 set out for the Kedartal trek in Uttarakhand on October 27, authorities received an alert for an adverse weather event expected two days later.By this time, however, the team had already left for their expedition with no means to contact them. On October 30, a day after the trekkers were expected to return, they were reported to be trapped by heavy rainfall and avalanches.On Sunday, eight of them remained missing despite repeated aerial searches and an attempt to approach the area on foot.Speaking to The Indian Express, Mayank Garg, Deputy Director of Gangotri National Park where Kedartal is situated, said the department had granted the group permission for a three-day trek on October 26. The group entered the trekking route early the next day.Garg said the department received a weather alert, concerning October 29, around 10.30-11 am on October 27, by which time the group had already left.“We could not inform the group about the alert as we could not make any contact with them,” he said.Among the eight missing trekkers are five from West Bengal — Tapas Bauri, 30; Ratan Ghosh; Manoj Khovas, 39; Ritu Mandal, 40; and Uday Ghosh, 30. The two women trekkers – Vartika Verma, 28, and Deepika Verma – are from Uttar Pradesh. The eighth person is Siddharth Rana, a 25-year-old guide from Uttarkashi.Story continues below this ad“We are moving in two ways. One team is trying to reach the trekkers on foot, but because of the avalanche, it has stopped. They are facing problems moving forward. Two of our personnel have also conducted aerial reconnaissance twice in the area, but nothing has been found,” Arpan Yaduvanshi, Commandant of the Uttarakhand SDRF, told The Indian Express on Sunday.“No tent, remains or anything of that sort has been found there so far. No distress call has also been detected,” he added.Yaduvanshi said the force would make another attempt on Monday morning, November 2, to access the area by helicopter. State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) personnel would lower down using helicopter-slithering techniques and attempt to prepare a helipad to facilitate landing, he said. Once on the ground, they would conduct a manual search of the high-altitude terrain.“After landing, we will conduct a manual search because there is no option left. We have not found anything in the aerial reconnaissance,” he said, describing Monday’s operation as the third attempt.Story continues below this adMonday’s search party would include a five-member high-altitude rescue team and a four-member team from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi.According to an Action Taken Report issued by the Uttarakhand State Emergency Operations Centre on Sunday, the trekking team comprised seven trekkers, one guide, one cook and three porters who had set out on the Kedartal trek from Gangotri.On Friday, the District Emergency Operations Centre in Uttarkashi received information that the team got trapped because of adverse weather conditions, including excessive snowfall and avalanches, in the Kedartal area, said the report.Park director Garg said the group was expected to return by October 29, adding the department monitors trekkers to ensure they return within the period for which the permission has been granted. He said the duration of a trek can vary depending on the pace of the trekkers and unforeseen circumstances such as injuries.Story continues below this adFour members of the group, three porters and one cook, were rescued on October 31 after rescue personnel cleared snow and created a route through the affected stretch. They were located near Kachchi Dhang, a stretch below the avalanche-hit area.They were brought safely to Gangotri by a special Search and Rescue (SAR) team, the report said.Garg said the avalanche-affected area near Sukhi Dhang was approximately 11-12 km on foot from the entry point, while its direct aerial distance was around 5.5-6 km. He said information available with the department indicated that avalanches had occurred at around 10-12 locations along the route.The report records that teams from the SDRF, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), forest department, police, and district administration, along with a search and rescue team, were dispatched to the incident site on Saturday morning. A helicopter also conducted aerial reconnaissance of the Kedartal area but neither the missing trekkers nor their belongings could be spotted. Another aerial search was conducted on Sunday with SDRF personnel on board.Story continues below this adGarg said rescue teams that moved towards the area on October 30 had to turn back after encountering multiple avalanches. On Sunday, teams moved further ahead, with the intention of staying in the area and continuing the search.The Kedartal route sees relatively fewer trekkers compared with the Gomukh route, which accounts for around 95% of visitors undertaking treks in the area. It is learnt that while teams visit the Gomukh route daily, monitoring on the Kedartal route is less frequent because fewer people take it.Past incidentsUttarakhand has witnessed several such incidents in the recent past. In October 2021, seven members of an 11-member trekking team on the Lamkhaga Pass route near Harsil were killed after being caught in severe weather, while two remained missing. The same month, five trekkers died in an avalanche near Sunderdhunga glacier in Bageshwar.In October 2022, an avalanche struck a mountaineering team at Draupadi Ka Danda-2 in Uttarkashi, killing 27 people. More recently, in June 2024, five trekkers died and four went missing after a 22-member group was caught in bad weather during an expedition to Sahastratal in Uttarkashi.