HomeWorldAt least 19 dead and 10 missing in avalanche in the Himalayas

At least 19 dead and 10 missing in avalanche in the Himalayas

At least 19 people were killed in an avalanche in the Indian Himalayas on Tuesday and another 10 are still missing, authorities said on Friday.

The group of climbers, made up of 34 apprentices from a local mountaineering institute, seven instructors and a nurse, fell victim to an avalanche near the top of Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II, at an altitude of 4,880 meters in Uttarakhand state. . in North India.

“Nineteen bodies have been recovered. Ten people are still missing,” as bad weather made rescue difficult, Ridhim Aggarwal of the Uttarakhand disaster agency told Agence France-Presse Ridhim Aggarwal news agency.

“Rescue operations have resumed for today, but are subject to weather conditions,” it added.

Police, disaster authorities and the Indian Air Force have been mobilized to assist in the search and have already rescued 32 people.

An advanced helicopter landing pad was set up near the site, at an altitude of almost 4,900 meters, where a successful experimental landing was made on Thursday morning, the Indo-Tibetan border police said.

Sunil Lalwani, one of the surviving climbers, said the group’s instructors had saved many lives.

“We were 50 to 100 meters from the summit with our instructors in front of us, when suddenly an avalanche hit us and swept everyone away,” he said, quoted by the Hindustan Times on Thursday.

“It happened in a matter of seconds and they threw us into a crack. Somehow we managed to breathe (…) It’s thanks to them [os instrutores] that we are alive today,” he stressed.

Veteran climber Savita Kanswal, a member of the instructor team, is among the dead. Earlier this year, she climbed Everest and nearby Mount Makulu in just 16 days, a women’s record.

In August, the body of a climber 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 famed American climber and skier Hilaree Nelson was found on the slopes of Manaslu, a Nepalese mountain, after she was reported missing while skiing on the world’s eighth-highest peak.

On the day of the accident, an avalanche buried Camps 3 and 4 on the 8,163-meter mountain, killing Nepalese climber Anup Rai and injuring a dozen people.

Studies are lacking to quantify the impact of climate change in the Himalayas, but climbers have observed widening cracks, water in previously snow-covered areas, and an increase in glacial lakes.

Source: TSF

Stay Connected
16,985FansLike
2,458FollowersFollow
61,453SubscribersSubscribe
Must Read
Related News

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here