An avalanche hit a Himalayan mountain pass in northeast India on Tuesday, killing seven people, including a 6-year-old girl, and injuring at least 13. A search-and-rescue operation was launched and then halted hours later amid inclement weather.
The avalanche occurred around noon near the high-altitude Nathu La mountain pass, in India’s Sikkim state near the border with Tibet, a winding road that draws tourists with its scenic alpine views.
Most of the dead and injured were tourists, some coming from Nepal or from Kolkata, Delhi or West Bengal in India, according to a report by Sikkim government official Tushar Nikhare. Of the seven killed, at least five were in their 20s or 30s. The youngest person killed, Rebya Singh, 6, was from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Members of the army, the disaster response force and the Border Roads Organization were dispatched to carry out the rescue operation, the government report said. At least five vehicles and 20 tourists were trapped in the fallen snow, it added.
Video of the rescue operation showed army members digging through the snow with shovels along a steep mountainside, alongside heavy snowplow machinery. Some carried away victims who had been pulled from the snow as a crowd watched.
The search-and-rescue operation was called off at 6 p.m. because of “inclement weather,” the Sikkim government report said. It will restart at 8 a.m. Wednesday, “to account for missing tourists, if any.”
“Distressed by the avalanche in Sikkim. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones,” the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, adding that “all possible assistance is being provided to those affected.”