India rescuers search for missing climbers on Himalayan peak

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — An Indian official says rescuers are trying to find eight mostly foreign mountaineers who went missing while attempting to scale India’s second-highest mountain.

The team, led by British climber Martin Moran, began its ascent May 13 to summit up a previously unclimbed peak on Nanda Devi East at 6,477 meters (21,250 feet), according to Moran Mountain, Moran’s Scotland-based company. The team comprises four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and an Indian liaison officer.

Vijay Kumar Jogdande, a civil administrator in northern India’s Uttarakhand state, says four other team members who stayed back at base camp were brought down Sunday. He says a search is ongoing for the eight missing.

Nanda Devi is sandwiched between India and China and is the world’s 23rd-highest peak, reaching 7,816 meters (25,643 feet).