Two Indian Army officers of a mountaineering team were killed when a snow avalanche hit their camp during an expedition in Uttarakhand, an official said on Tuesday.
The officers, Lt. Col. Poornachandra of the 9 Para Field Regiment and Major Manish Gusain of the 11 Kumaon Regiment, were members of a 42-man team on an expedition to the 7,756 metre high Mt. Kamet.
The expedition to Mt. Kamet was part of a selection process to scale the 8,163 metre Mt. Manaslu mountain in Nepal next year, army spokesperson Col. Om Singh said.
Singh said a fierce avalanche in Chamoli district hit their expedition camp Sunday and buried it completely under snow.
Team leader Col. Ajay Kothiyal and nine other members who were camping in Chamoli managed to extricate themselves out of the mound of snow but "despite desperate efforts made by the survivors to extricate the rest of the team mates, Lt.Col. Poornachandra and Major Manish could not be rescued alive".
As the weather deteriorated, Singh said, the team descended to the advance base camp, leaving behind the bodies of the two officers at the affected camp.
The bodies will be airlifted to Joshimath when the weather clears, he said.
"In the entire episode a few personnel also sustained cold injuries and they have descended to Ghastoli," Singh said.