WORLD IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : 40 Reported Killed in Climbing Disaster
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
An avalanche, apparently triggered by a mild earthquake, swept 40 climbers from five nations to their deaths in Soviet Central Asia in one of the world’s worst mountaineering disasters, a Soviet official said. The 27 Soviets, six Czechoslovaks, four Israelis, two Swiss and one Spaniard were camped on a ledge known as the “frying pan” about 19,500 feet up in the Pamir Mountains. Friday’s avalanche struck on the slopes of 23,456-foot Lenin Peak.
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