India Kicks Off Himalayas Operation to Retrieve Bodies of Dead Climbers - Report

03:30 GMT, 5 June 2019

Eight climbers - four from Britain, two from the United States, and one each from Australia and India - were reported missing last Friday after they failed to return to their base camp near Nanda Devi, India's second highest mountain, according to Reuters.

Sputnik

On Wednesday, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force began a helicopter mission to remove the bodies of five missing climbers believed killed in an avalanche high in the mountains, a government official said, cited by Reuters. The bodies will be brought to the town of Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.

According to Reuters, a rescue mission was launched on Monday. An Indian air force helicopter spotted five bodies partially buried in snow high on a slope.

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The status of three other hikers remains unknown. The Indian authorities have reportedly said the possibility of their survival is remote, and their bodies could be near the five that were spotted.

According to local media, the death toll on the Mount Everest, earth's highest mountain and also part of the Himalayas range, has reached 10 people this season, following the death of a climber from the United Kingdom.

The Himalayas and, in particular, Mount Everest- known to locals as Sagarmatha or Chomolungma rises to 8,848m (29,298 feet). The World's highest peak annually attracts thousands of mountain lovers, climbers, and ordinary travellers.