2 foreign skiers killed, 19 rescued in avalanche in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India Two foreign skiers were killed and 19 others rescued in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday after an avalanche swept through the popular ski resort of Gulmarg.

The skiers were all foreigners, but the police had yet to make their nationalities public.

A massive rescue operation has been launched, Kashmirs police chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters. Two bodies have been recovered so far.

Nineteen other skiers were rescued.

The skiers were hit by the avalanche in the Affarwat area of Gulmarg, in Kashmir, Mr Kumar said.

The hills of Kashmir have seen heavy snowfall in recent days.

Kashmir is a disputed Himalayan region claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, though each country only controls parts of it.

A video of the avalanche shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a wall of snow roaring down a mountainside, sending skiers and other onlookers scurrying for safety.

This incident happened just days after American professional skier Kyle Smaine and an Austrian were killed in an avalanche in Nagano prefecture in central Japan. REUTERS Embed Twitter Tweet URL More On This Topic Woman dies in avalanche near ski resort in Japan's Hokkaido Tibet avalanche death toll rises to 28; search for survivors ends