West Bengal trekker dies on Kedarnath trek, another safely rescued

DEHRADUN: A trekker from West Bengal, who was stranded on the Ransi-Kedarnath trek route since Saturday due to bad health, died after his condition deteriorated on Monday. Another trekker, also unwell, was rescued by a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team.
The deceased has been identified as Alok Biswas, 34, a resident of Saguna in Nadia district in West Bengal while the rescued trekker has been identified as Vikram Mazumdur, 38, a resident of 24 South Parganas district of West Bengal.An SDRF source told TOI, "The team trekked 8km uphill and located both trekkers on Monday evening. Alok was found dead, while Vikram was in poor health. The team is likely to reach Kedarnath late on Monday night with Alok's body and also bring back Vikram."
A group of 10 trekkers had proceeded for the Ukhimath-Ransi-Manadamai-Kedarnath trek on October 2. However, on October 8, the health condition of Alok and Vikram started to deteriorate.
"Other group members returned to Kedarnath on Saturday night and informed the police about their stranded companions. The search operation could not be launched immediately due to bad weather. The next day, the SDRF team tried but could not find them," NK Rajwar, Rudraprayag district disaster management officer, told TOI. Finally, on Monday, the team left for Maha Pant, 8km ahead of Kedarnath, where they found Alok's body and rescued Vikram.