Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who tweeted without giving further details, said: “Deeply anguished by the loss of precious lives due to landslide which has struck the mountaineering expedition carried out by the Nehru Mountaineering Institute in Uttarkashi.”

An avalanche which occurred in the Indian Himalayas on Tuesday has left at least four climbers dead and 26 other persons still missing at nightfall after poor weather hampered rescue operations.

According to Ridhim Aggarwal from the State Disaster Response Force, “We had 42 members who were trapped in the avalanche, out of which four are confirmed dead … Twelve people have been rescued. The operation has been halted for the night because there was heavy snow in the area… Twenty-six people are missing.”

Earlier, Aggarwal said the group was stuck in a crevasse after the avalanche struck at around 8.45am local time on the 5,670-metre Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II.

Media reports have, however, put the toll at 10 following the avalanche of around 16,000 feet (4,880 metres) which occurred in the northern state of Uttarakhand and involved a group of several dozen climbing trainees.

The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said the group included 34 of its trainees and seven of its instructors.

Vishal Ranjan, registrar with the institute, confirmed the four deaths and stated that the rescue operation “has been stopped for now because of heavy rainfall and snowfall in the region.”

A senior disaster management official, Devendra Singh Patwal, also disclosed that they “sent two air force choppers to the region and the third one is here on standby for now because of bad weather there.” 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who tweeted without giving further details, said: “Deeply anguished by the loss of precious lives due to landslide which has struck the mountaineering expedition carried out by the Nehru Mountaineering Institute in Uttarkashi.” 

The Indian Himalayas has witnessed the deaths of many mountaineers – including a renowned US ski mountaineer, Hilaree Nelson, and Nepali climber, Anup Rai – in avalanches which occurred on it.

Though no substantial research has been done on the impacts of climate change on mountaineering risks in the Himalayas, climbers have reported crevasses widening, running water on previously snowy slopes and the increasing formation of glacial lakes.