Himalayas missing climbers: Indian air force pilots spot five bodies in hunt for eight mountaineers

Search for remaining three people suspended amid bad weather

Nanda Devi mountain seen from Auli town, in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand (Reuters)

Five bodies have been spotted by air force pilots searching for eight missing climbers in the Himalayas, officials say.

The bodies were found on Monday before a rescue operation in the northern state of Uttarakhand was suspended because of heavy snowfall and high winds.

An operation to find the three unaccounted for mountaineers will resume on Tuesday.

The group, including four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and an Indian, began climbing Nanda Devi, India’s second-highest peak at 6,477 metres (21,250 feet) on 13 May.

The eight-member expedition had last been in touch with base camp on 26 May. Contact was lost after an avalanche.

UK national Martin Moran, who is originally from Tyneside, was leading the party of eight who were attempting to reach the top of another unnamed peak in a remote area.

Officials are consulting the Indian army on how to retrieve the bodies.

Dr Vijay Kumar Jogdande, a civil administrator in the northern state of Uttarakhand said: “There is always a fear that people going for the rescue may get stuck there.”

Four other British climbers who were originally part of the same group turned back before the attempt on the summit because of bad weather.

Amit Chowdhary, spokesman for the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, said when the team at base camp stopped receiving radio updates from the other expedition team, one person went to look for the missing climbers the next day.

Subsequent searches revealed signs of an avalanche on the peak the group were thought to be on, two state officials said.

The four who had turned back were picked up by helicopter on Saturday and named by India TV as Mark Thomas, Ian Wade, Kate Armstrong and Zachary Quain. They received first aid at a hospital, and were all later released.

The eight members of the expedition who had been missing were named as Martin Moran, the expedition leader, John McLaren, Rupert Whewell and Richard Payne, all from the UK, Anthony Sudekum and Ronald Beimel from the US, Ruth McCance from Australia, and Chetan Pandey, a guide from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.