MUMBAI: An Indian rescue team has been sent to search for eight missing climbers who had been trying to climb the summit of Nanda Devi, the second-highest peak in India, and were probably hit by a large avalanche, two state government officials said.
The officials said that they had been told that those missing include climbers from Britain, the United States, Australia and India.
The rescue effort began on Saturday when the climbers failed to return to base camp. It may take days to trek to the area where they were last known to have been, said Vijay Kumar Jogdanda, the top civil servant in Pithoragarh district of India’s mountainous Uttarakhand state.
Others in the group, who had turned back earlier, told officials late on Friday that their fellow climbers had not returned to base camp as planned, Sanjay Gunjiyal, the inspector general of police at the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force, told Reuters.
Rescue operations which began on Saturday were called off in the evening due to harsh weather conditions and would resume on Sunday, Gunjiyal said, adding that an air force helicopter will be used for aerial reconnaissance on Sunday. Helicopters may not be able to land anywhere in the area, given the terrain.
The climbers went missing on the Indian side of the Himalayas near the end of a climbing season that has been particularly deadly this year.
At least nine people have died on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest so far this year, the deadliest climbing season on the peak since 2015.
Indian and international news reports said that the team was led by British guide Martin Moran. On the Facebook page of his Moran Mountain company, the last public entry appears to be on May 22.
It says that the Nanda Devi team had reached their second base camp at 4,870 meters, their home for the next week.
“After a recce of the route they will be making a summit attempt on an unclimbed peak at 6477m. In the words of (US rock climbing pioneer) Royal Robbins, ‘A first ascent is a creation in the same sense as is a painting or a song’. We wish them all the very best of luck and an incredible climb!“
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Indian rescuers to search for eight climbers missing in Himalayas
Indian rescuers to search for eight climbers missing in Himalayas
- At least nine people have died on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest so far this year, the deadliest climbing season on the peak since 2015
Australian police probe threatening letter to country’s largest mosque ahead of Ramadan
- The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and CCTV
SYDNEY: Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the “Muslim race,” local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol religious sites including the mosque, as well as community events.
The latest letter comes weeks after a similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire. Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque’s staff in January.
The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and CCTV cameras.
Some 5,000 people are expected to attend the mosque each night during Ramadan. More than 60 percent of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the recent string of threats.
“It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the holy month for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation,” he told ABC radio.
“I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that.” Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.
The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740 percent rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by Islamic State killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.
The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the “Muslim race,” local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol religious sites including the mosque, as well as community events.
The latest letter comes weeks after a similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire. Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque’s staff in January.
The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and CCTV cameras.
Some 5,000 people are expected to attend the mosque each night during Ramadan. More than 60 percent of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the recent string of threats.
“It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the holy month for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation,” he told ABC radio.
“I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that.” Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.
The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740 percent rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by Islamic State killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.
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