10 Dead & 7 Missing After An Avalanche Takes Out A Group of Climbers On A Mongolian Peak

According to Xinhua, 10 people are dead and 7 are missing after an avalanche took out a group of climbers on Mount Otgontenger in the province of Zavkhan in western Mongolia. The group of climbers reached the summit and were on their way down when an avalanche was triggered on Sunday.

A separate group of 10 climbers made it down the mountain safely and reported the incident to Mongolian Authorities. Mongolia’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had an emergency meeting and immediately responded to the reports. They searched throughout the day with the help of 2 helicopters and 100 people.

10 bodies were found at a lower elevation of 3,400 meters, which suggests that they may have fallen off a cliff after being struck by the slide. The search was postponed on Monday due to darkness, but it was expected to resume early this morning. Only four other climbers have died since the 1960s on Mount Otgontenger, but climbing has been banned since 2015 due to safety reasons.