Four dead, 26 missing after avalanche in Indian Himalayas

The trainee mountaineers died on Tuesday after being swept away by an avalanche in the Himalayas in northern India

Avalanches are common in the mountainous areas of Uttarakhand. Last year, a glacier burst resulting in a flash flood that killed more than 200 people

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At least four people have died and several others are still missing in the Indian Himalayas after a group of 41 mountaineers was hit by an avalanche on Tuesday, a statement from a mountaineering institute in northern India said. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:45am, 5 Oct 2022Updated: 9:11am, 5 Oct 2022

At least four climbers were killed on Tuesday in an avalanche in the Indian Himalayas, with 26 others still missing at nightfall after poor weather hampered rescue operations, officials said.

Media reports put the toll at 10 following the incident at around 16,000 feet (4,880 metres) in the northern state of Uttarakhand involving a group of several dozen climbing trainees.

“We had 42 members who were trapped in the avalanche, out of which four are confirmed dead … Twelve people have been rescued,” Ridhim Aggarwal from the State Disaster Response Force said.

“The operation has been halted for the night because there was heavy snow in the area … Twenty-six people are missing,” Aggarwal said.

Earlier she said the group was stuck in a crevasse after the avalanche struck at around 8.45am local time on the 5,670-metre Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II.

The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said the group included 34 of its trainees and seven instructors.