12 mountaineers missing after avalanche hits Indian Himalayas

A group of 21 trainee mountaineers are missing in the Indian Himalayas after they were hit by an avalanche, an official said on Tuesday, as soldiers and rescuers scoured the area in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

Authorities were alerted of an avalanche near the Draupadi Danda-2 peak around 9:30 am local time and first responders were deployed immediately, Uttarakhand state official Devendra Singh Patwal said.

"As of now eight people have been rescued and 21 others are missing," Patwal told Reuters by phone. "There has been no report of death."

The group mainly consisted of trainees from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, a well-known state-run mountaineering school, Patwal said.