At least four mountaineers have been confirmed dead as another avalanche hits the Indian Himalayas and more than 25 people have been trapped on the mountain.
Media reports put the death toll at 10 following the incident, which took place at around 16,000 feet in the northern state of Uttarakhand and involved a group of around 40 people.
Ridhim Aggarwal from the State Disaster Response Force told AFP:
“We have confirmation of four deaths out of the 33 people trapped. Around eight of them have already been rescued and the rest are trapped in a crevasse.”
The avalanche struck at around 8:45 am on the 5,670-metre Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II.
The group involved 34 trainees from a local mountaineering institute and seven instructors, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said in a statement.
“We are deeply anguished by the loss of precious lives due to landslide which has struck the mountaineering expedition carried out by the Nehru Mountaineering Institute in Uttarkashi.
“Praying for everyone’s safety and well-being, ” he tweeted.
Vishal Ranjan, registrar with the mountaineering institute, confirmed the four deaths and said the rescue operation “has been stopped for now because of heavy rainfall and snowfall in the region.”
Devendra Singh Patwal, a senior disaster management official said:
“We sent two air force choppers to the region and the third one is here on standby for now because of bad weather there.”
“There has been no contact with the choppers for now because of the weather conditions and connectivity in the region.”
