Enlarge image
Himalayas in India (icon image)
Photo: N Sharma / DinodiaPhoto / IMAGO
At least 19 climbers died in an avalanche accident in the Indian part of the Himalayas.
Ten more are still missing, an employee of the Indian civil protection agency told the dpa news agency.
Salvage operations on Draupadi Ka Danda II were still ongoing and were hampered by bad weather.
The avalanche hit the mountaineering team on Tuesday at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters while they were descending.
It was a group of around 40 people, consisting of participants and trainers from a course.
17 of the dead are mountaineering students and two victims are their instructors, reports the Press Trust of India news agency.
Team leader Nayab Subedar Anil Kumar previously told the agency that most of the climbers took refuge in a crevasse during the avalanche.
He himself was injured in the accident and – like 14 of the climbers – was saved.
Last week, the well-known US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson died in an accident on Manaslu in the Nepalese part of the Himalayas.
bbr/dpa/AFP