FILM showing the final moments of eight mountaineers who died on their way to climb a treacherous Himalayan peak has been released by Indian authorities.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) shared on social media almost two minutes of video shot on a helmet-mounted GoPro camera just before the group was about to summit the unclimbed 7434-metre (24390ft) Nanda Devi East peak in northern India.
Veteran climber Martin Moran, who ran his family firm Moran Mountain from Strathcarron in Wester Ross, was leading the international team when contact was lost on May 26.
It included John McLaren, Rupert Whewell and University of York lecturer Richard Payne from the UK, Anthony Sudekum and Ronald Beimel, who were US nationals, Australian Ruth McCance and Indian Chetan Pandey, a liaison officer from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
The video, shot by the last climber in the line, shows them roped together moving along a slippery, snow-covered ridge.
Sunrays highlight the blanket of snow as the camera pans to capture the awe-inspiring scenery surrounding one of the most difficult peaks in the Indian Himalayas.
Suddenly, with a thud, the video ends.
Last visuals of the #mountaineers' team near the summit on unnamed peak near the #NandaDevi east. #ITBP search team of mountaineers found the memory video device at 19K ft while they were searching the area where bodies were spotted. pic.twitter.com/wKr3YtLuWF
— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) July 8, 2019
Officials from the ITBP said the sound could be either a snowstorm or avalanche that claimed the climbers’ lives.
The camera was found buried in the snow near where seven bodies were recovered – Moran’s has still to be found.
A P S Nimbadia, ITBP deputy inspector general, said: “The video was sourced from a photo card that our boys recovered from near the bodies that lay in a bowl-like region of the mountain.
“This is the only evidence and last moments record of the journey of the eight climbers.
“It ends with a slight thud-like sound and we suspect that this would have the avalanche or snowstorm that led to the death of the climbers.”
ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey, said the group’s weight could have caused the collapse of the snow ledge they were on, and triggered an avalanche.
He said the clip is now being used to help “analyse what went wrong with their mission”.
Nimbadia added: “The GoPro has proved to be like the black box of an aircraft giving an insight into the last few moments of the climbers.
“It was mesmerising for us to see the footage.”
A celebration of Moran’s life will be held in Torridon on Saturday.
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