India: Scores of tourists feared dead in Sikkim avalanche

An avalanche swept away a group of tourists in the Himalayas in northeastern India on Tuesday, killing at least six and injuring 11 others, officials and news reports said.

Nathu La mountain pass is along the border with China and is a major tourist destination. The ecologically sensitive Himalayan region, which has been severely affected by global warming, is prone to avalanches. Last year 27 trainee mountaineers were killed in an avalanche in the northern Uttarakhand region.

India’s Border Roads Organization said the tourists were hit by the avalanche near the Nathu La mountain pass in Sikkim state. It said rescuers pulled 22 survivors from the snow and took them to a hospital for treatment. Video footage released by the Indian army showed rescuers digging through the snow to find the missing who were swept away by the avalanche into a mountain slope.

The Border Road Organisation (BRO) on Tuesday rescued a total of 350 tourists stranded in east Sikkim after they were stuck in a sudden avalanche, defence sources said.

Quoting BRO Chief Engineer Brigadier Ahalawat, Defence Spokesman Lt. Col Mahendra Rawat said that BRO's project Swastik immediately launched a swift rescue operation after the tourists got trapped in a sudden avalanche at Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg on the National Highway 310.

He said that six tourists were rescued from a deep valley and shifted to nearby hospitals. A woman remained buried for 1.5 hours under the snow before being rescued and sent to STNM Hospital. Rescue operations are under progress and further details are awaited.

A tourist being rescued by Army personnel during an operation after an avalanche hit a site near Nathu La mountain pass, in Gangtok on Tuesday. Reportedly, seven people have been killed.