Seven die in Himalayan storm

Climbers face many dangers in the Himalayas

Seven mountaineers have been killed and two others are missing after they were hit by an avalanche on India's Himalayan peak of Panchachuli, local officials say.

The officials said the nine-man expedition went missing on Saturday morning as they were returning to their base camp after successfully climbing the 6,900-metre (22,650ft) mountain.

The incident happened in the Pithoragarh district of northern Uttaranchal state, which borders China.

The officials said India's Air Force rescue helicopters had found the bodies but could not recover them because of the bad weather.

"We have spotted seven bodies, and of those four have been identified," RC Agarwal of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force (ITPF) told India's Star News television channel.

The search for the two missing members of the expedition was still going on.

The officials said the mountaineers all served in the ITPF, a border police specialising in mountain terrain.

Three of them had climbed the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.