Canada
This article was added by the user . TheWorldNews is not responsible for the content of the platform.

Indian Himalayas avalanche kills two, group of trainee mountaineers missing

Author of the article:

Reuters

LUCKNOW — Two people have died and at least 19 are still missing in the Indian Himalayas after a group of trainee mountaineers was hit by an avalanche, officials said on Tuesday, as soldiers and rescuers scoured the area in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

Authorities were alerted of an avalanche near the Draupadi Danda-2 peak around 9.30 a.m. local time and first responders were deployed immediately, Uttarakhand state official Devendra Singh Patwal said, adding that eight people had been rescued.

Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

“The Indian Air Force is doing an aerial recce of the mountain where this happened. It is not easy to reach the spot. We only know that two people have died in this avalanche,” Uttarakhand police chief Ashok Kumar told Reuters by phone.

Patwal said the group mainly consisted of trainees from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, a well-known mountaineering school under the Ministry Of Defence. (Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)