At least 19 people were killed Friday when an avalanche hit Indian climbers in the Himalayas, authorities said. Its the fourth day of search and rescue efforts are being hampered by bad weather.
A snow avalanche hit a group of climbers near the summit of Mount Draupadi ka Danda II in northern India on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring several others.
“Nineteen bodies have been recovered. 10 people are still missing,” state disaster agency spokesperson Ridhim Aggarwal told AFP.
“Rescue operations have resumed for the day but are subject to weather,” she added. “The weather is bad.”
Authorities have mobilised police, disaster authorities and the Indian air force to help with search efforts on Mount Kedarnath as 32 people have been rescued from the mountain despite snow and rainfall.
An advance helicopter landing ground had been prepared near the site of the avalanche at 4,900 metres (16,000 feet) above sea level, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police said Thursday.
Sunil Lalwani, who’s been rescued after spending 19 days, credited the instructors for saving many lives.
“We were 50-100 metres from the summit with our instructors ahead of us, when suddenly an avalanche hit us and took everyone down,” Lalwani was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times on Thursday.
“It happened in a matter of seconds and we were dumped in a crevasse. We were somehow able to breathe… It’s because of them that we are alive today.”
Kanswal, an Indian, had successfully summited Everest. The 35-year-old, who was the first woman from India to scale Mount Everest, was among four climbers killed by an ice fall this week. She died while on her way down the mountain.
Fatal climbing accidents are common in the Himalayas, home to Everest and several of the world’s highest peaks.
In August, the body of a mountaineer was recovered two months after he fell into a crevasse while crossing a glacier in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.
Last week, renowned US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson’s body was found on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak after she went missing skiing down the world’s eighth-highest mountain.
