8 climbers go missing en route to Nanda Devi summit; rescue team deployed

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

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