The deceased were identified as Commanders Rajnikant Yadav, Yogesh Tiwari and Anand Kukreti, and JCO Hari Om. Yadav and Kukreti are based in Mumbai.

Mortal remains of four out of five missing Naval mountaineers retrieved today –

Lt Cdr Rajnikant Yadav
Lt Cdr Yogesh Tiwari
Lt Cdr Anant Kukreti
Hariom MCPO II#CNS & all ranks of #IndianNavy express profound grief & heartfelt condolences to the families on this loss. pic.twitter.com/7ReNYNeFyf

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) October 2, 2021

The Indian Navy also expressed “profound grief & heartfelt condolences to the families on this loss”. They further said that all out efforts are being continued to locate the fifth naval climber and one Sherpa.

An Indian Navy spokesperson said that the mountaineering expedition team to Mt Trishul was caught in an avalanche near the summit on Friday morning. One personnel and a Sherpa are still missing, he added.

He further said that the search and rescue operations using the helicopters of Indian Air Force, Army Aviation Wing and the State Disaster Management Force, had begun Friday, but had to be stopped in the evening and resumed on Saturday.

A mountaineering expedition to Mount Trishul-I (height 7120 m, located in Uttarakhand) was flagged-off by Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar, chief of the western naval command on September 3 from INS Trishul in Mumbai. Hari Kumar had also handed over a ceremonial Ice Axe to the team leader and wished the team a successful summitting of Mount Trishul-I peak.

The event is being conducted as part of ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ celebrations to commemorate 50 years of the victory in the 1971 war. The expedition is led by Commander Vishnu Prasad and there are 19 members in the team.

“One team of 10 persons was caught in an avalanche. Five persons of this team went missing. The team had gone to Delhi from Mumbai and then to Sutol in Chamoli. They started their trek to base camp on September 14,” the naval spokesperson said.

However, he refused to give details on those still missing.

Another officer said that they are from various parts of the country and the expedition had started from Mumbai as INS Trishul is based in Mumbai.