Avalanche Kills 5 Climbers in Himalayas
An avalanche killed five Austrian mountaineers in the Himalayan state of Kashmir when it swept away their tent, an official reported Friday.
The five died Oct. 13 in the base camp for the Kun peak in Ladakh district, a rugged mountainous region at the northernmost tip of India, said a spokesman for the Austrian Embassy, Peter Launsky.
One member of the expedition, Rudolf Purlacher, survived and reported the deaths.
“According to the information we received, they were sitting in the tent at Camp 1 when an avalanche came down and took the tent with it,” Launsky said.
The victims were identified as William Jadin, Dr. Wolfgang Hiendel, Josef Ruef, Josef Draxharer and Dr. Daniel Rettenberger. Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available.
The mountaineers had not registered with the embassy, Launsky said.
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