At least seven people died on Tuesday after an avalanche hit a road in the Indian Himalayas near the Chinese border, authorities said.
The landslide occurred around 11:10 a.m. (5:40 GMT) Tuesday on a busy road linking Gangtok to Nathu La, a tourist area in the state of Sikkim (northeast), neighboring Tibet.
Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Rawat, an army spokesman, confirmed the deaths of at least seven people among the 23 tourists who were rescued until 4pm (1030 GMT) and transferred to a nearby Indian Army medical facility.
“Unfortunately, seven people died of their injuries in hospital,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rawat.
“It is feared that 20 to 30 tourists in five or six vehicles en route to Nathu La have been buried in snow,” he added.
The country’s disaster management team, military and police are continuing to search for those still missing, according to a military statement.
There was no indication that foreign nationals were among the avalanche victims.
Sikkim police and government officials could not immediately be reached by AFP.
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