6 Die in Avalanche Atop Ecuador Volcano

An avalanche buried at least 20 mountain climbers at a shelter atop a volcano in north-central Ecuador on Saturday, killing at least six of them, the Red Cross said.

Nine people were rescued, and searchers were looking for another five people believed to be buried by the avalanche about 55 miles south of the capital of Quito, Red Cross spokesman Richard Comacho said.

The six victims--three women, two men and a 6-year-old boy--were all from Ecuador, he said.

According to Radio Quito, other mountaineers may have been staying in the cabin shelter atop Cotopaxi volcano because a wind-and-snow storm had socked in the peak.

Police in Latacunga, 22 miles southwest of the 19,344-foot volcano, a major attraction for mountain climbers from around the world, said the avalanche covered the highest shelter near the summit.

The same area was shaken March 28 by a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, which killed at least 27 people. Authorities did not say whether the avalanche was related to the quake.