NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 21 trainee mountaineers were reported missing after getting trapped in an avalanche in northern India, officials said Tuesday.
A group of 29 people was hit by an avalanche on a mountain peak located in the Gangotri range of the Garhwal Himalayas on Tuesday morning, said Uttarakhand state police chief Ashok Kumar.
He said the rescuers pulled eight mountaineers from the snow and they were still searching for the remaining 21.
All the missing were undergoing training at a mountaineering institute but far from the avalanche site, Kumar said.
Uttarakhand state’s top elected official, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said the National Disaster Response Force and the Indian army deployed teams to help with rescue efforts. The Indian air force deployed two helicopters to search for the missing.
Avalanches are common in the mountainous areas of Uttarakhand. Last year, a glacier burst in the state resulted in a flash flood that left more than 200 people dead.