Search launched for 14 missing mountain climbers in southwest China

2011-10-11 19:48:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHENGDU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- Rescue workers in southwest China have launched a search for fourteen mountain climbers who have been missing for nearly two weeks, state-run media reported on Tuesday.

The group, nine local tourists from Shanghai and Zhejiang, one local guide and four porters, went missing on September 30 when contact was lost after they entered the Haizi Ravine, a famous tourist site in the mountainous Aba Prefecture of Sichuan province.

The state-run Xinhua news agency, citing sources, said relatives of the mountain climbers first reported them missing on Sunday, saying the nine tourists had planned to traverse the mountain via an uncertain route.

Six of the missing tourists had registered at the region's outdoor activity management center where they applied to camp from September 30 until October 2. It was not immediately clear when the group of tourists had planned to return or why it took nearly two weeks before the group was reported missing.

Rescue workers have failed to locate the missing climbers since they first launched a search on Sunday. Since then, the regional government has mobilized more manpower to continue the search.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-11

it could be that they were tethered together, and suffered a major mishap. It sometimes happens where, when traversing an icy slope, one climber might slip, and the others (tethered together) cannot break the fall, and they all fall together in a tangle. At least a few times, all the climbers wind up in a crevasse. Avelanches are often part of the scenario. Some could still be alive - hope they mobilize a rescue mission a.s.a.p.