Climbers feared dead in Khan Tengri avalanche
Agu 5, 2004 10: 38 EST
As many as six climbers are reported to have died in an avalanche on the South Side of Khan Tengri. Several sources are reporting that at least 5 Czechs, including 2 women, and a Russian were killed in an ice avalanche.
Scott Woolums from Adventures International is over on the North Side of Khan Tengri and reports that the avalanche hit around 6 in the morning. His information ascertained from radio communication from the South said initially that as many as 11 were buried and 3 were evacuated after a ‘large ice avalanche’ hit on the route.
Rescuers from both the North and South sides of the mountain were airlifted to the search area. A second avalanche came down while searchers were scouring the area, however, no one was reported injured in this second slide.
It is now nearing 9 in the evening over there and search efforts were called off a bit earlier in the day as conditions were too dicey. Woolums writes that afternoon weather had brought high winds and intermittent snow. Search efforts are expected to continue tomorrow.
Last years season saw several deaths on Khan Tengri, however, none of them were from avalanches - rather altitude sickness and a drunk fall in Base Camp were to blame.
Back in 1990 on Peak Lenin in the nearby Pamir mountains the worst disaster ever in mountaineering occured when a serac avalanche killed 43 climbers. Early reports have the Khan Tengri avalanche as being an 'ice avalanche', which could possibly have been a serac that fell. There are several seracs on the mountain which loom above the standard routes.
Khan Tengri, 7010m, is located on the boarders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China in the Tien Shan mountains. Like Everest, climbers frequent both the standard routes on the North and South Sides of the mountain.
Live image sent via Contact 3.0 of helicopter taking off to search for missing climbers courtesy of Adventures International.
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