The body of Tiklu Jyrwa, a member of the Meghalaya Sport Climbing and Mountaineering Association (MeSCMA), arrived in Shillong on Sunday night, officials said.

“The body of Tiklu was identified by his brother-in-law, Wallambok Lyngdoh, and it was then brought along with another mountaineer from Assam,” a senior government official told PTI.

Wallambok is the general secretary of the MeSCMA and a professional mountaineer himself.

Tiklu was among the 41 mountaineers who were reported ‘missing’ after they were struck by a massive avalanche at an altitude of 17,000 feet on their way back from Draupadi ka Danda-II peak on 4 October. The mountaineers were part of an advanced mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has condoled the demise of mountaineer Tiklu Jyrwa, who is survived by his wife and two children.

“Extremely sad to share that Mr Tiklu Jyrwa, the mountaineer from Shillong who along with a team of mountaineers went missing after an avalanche hit them in Uttarakhand has passed away. We are in touch with the family and are facilitating the transportation of his mortal remains to Shillong. My prayers for his family and loved ones during their hour of grief. May the departed Rest In Peace.” Sangma tweeted.

He died doing what he loved best. Mr. Tiklu Jyrwa was a true Mountaineer. Keeping him in our warmest thoughts. Our condolences to his family. We pray for their healing in this tough time.#mountrainier #mountains pic.twitter.com/ZiaHpnwnJY

— Meghalaya with Conrad (@MLwithConrad) October 8, 2022

On Monday, bodies of five more avalanche victims were brought to the ITBP camp in Matli on Monday, even as continuous snowfall hampered the efforts to locate two mountaineers still missing.

The bringing back of five more bodies on Monday takes the number of bodies brought down from the summit camp so far to 26, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela said.

“One body is still at the summit camp while search for the two missing mountaineers continues,” he said.

A multi-agency search-and-rescue operations by the SDRF, ITBP, Army and IAF was launched on the same day, which still continues.

“Continuous snowfall over the avalanche-hit site is hampering search operation. But efforts to find the two missing mountaineers continue despite bad weather. We hope the operation will soon be over,” the DM said.