Avalanche kills at least 4 climbers on Ecuador volcano: officials

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Handout picture released by Ecuador’s Integrated Security Service (ECU911) press office showing military personnel preparing to start a rescue operation following a snowslide at the Chimborazo volcano on October 24, 2021. – An avalanche registered earlier today in the snow-capped Chimborazo volcano, in central Andean region, fell on a group of mountaineers leaving at least four dead and one injured, the ECU911 reported. (Photo by Handout / ECU911 / AFP) 

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — An avalanche Sunday on a snow-capped Ecuadoran volcano killed at least four climbers and injured a fifth, officials reported.

The avalanche struck a group of about a dozen mountaineers while at an altitude of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet) on the dormant Chimborazo volcano, Ecuador’s highest peak, in the central Andean region, the ECU911 security service said.

“The existence of four dead people (and) one injury is confirmed,” the agency said, adding that “an avalanche struck the group.”

It did not identify the climbers or their nationalities, but the peak attracts both Ecuadoran and foreign climbers.

Chimborazo, which rises 6,263 meters above sea level, is covered in snow and glaciers year-round and is located near the town of Riobamba, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Quito.

© Agence France-Presse