At least four mountaineers died in an avalanche in the Himalayas on Tuesday, Indian authorities said.
Indian media have reported a death toll of up to 10 after the avalanche, which occurred at an altitude of 4,880 meters in the state of Uttarakhand (north).
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“
We have confirmation of four deaths out of the 33 people trapped (by the snow).
Eight of them have already been rescued and the others are stuck in a crevasse
, ”
Ridhim Aggarwal, head of relief for Uttarakhand
, told AFP.
“
It was snowing, but the weather is better now and we have already launched a relief operation with the help of the Air Force and other agencies.
The operation will continue as long as the weather permits and until those trapped are safe
.”
The group consisted of apprentices from a local mountaineering institute.
Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh lamented on Twitter "the
loss of precious lives due to a landslide which hit a mountaineering expedition organized by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi
".
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In August, the body of a mountaineer was found two months after he fell into a crevasse while crossing a glacier in Himachal Pradesh, another northern Indian state.
And last week, the body of famous mountaineer and skier Hilaree Nelson was found on the slopes of Manaslu, a Nepalese mountain.
She was reported missing while skiing down the eighth highest peak on the planet.
On the day of the accident, an avalanche had hit camps 3 and 4 on the 8,163-meter high mountain, killing Nepalese mountaineer Anup Rai and injuring a dozen people.
Studies are lacking to quantify the impact of climate change on the Himalayas, but climbers have observed widening of crevasses, water in previously snow-capped areas, and the proliferation of glacial lakes.