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Three killed in Ben Nevis avalanche

Europe Materials 13 March 2019 04:44 (UTC +04:00)
A third person has died following an avalanche on Ben Nevis.
Three killed in Ben Nevis avalanche

A third person has died following an avalanche on Ben Nevis, police have confirmed, Trend reports citing BBC.

Two climbers died at the scene and a fourth person was injured in the incident, which took place in an area known as Number 5 Gully.

The alarm was raised at 11:50 and a Coastguard helicopter, air ambulance, three road ambulances and a trauma team were sent to the scene.

Mountain rescue teams from Lochaber and Glencoe also joined the rescue effort.

And a group of military personnel training in the area offered assistance to the rescuers.

Police initially said two people died in the avalanche and two people were injured.

One of the injured climbers later died and the second was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.

Officers said they were working to establish the identity of the climbers and were following a "positive line of inquiry" in relation to their identity.

Insp Isla Campbell said: "This has been a challenging operation and I want to pass on my thanks to the mountain rescue teams, colleagues at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Scottish Ambulance Service for their assistance in extremely difficult conditions.

"I would also like to praise members of the public and staff from the Scottish Avalanche Information Service who were on scene at the time and provided immediate assistance."

Earlier Insp Campbell told BBC Scotland that the weather in the area was atrocious.

"The rescuers have been working through some really difficult conditions there, high winds preventing the use of the helicopter," she said.

"So although I wasn't up there personally I can just imagine, from the weather on the ground today, it's been very, very challenging for them.

"I would really like to thank those volunteers from the mountain rescue team and those people who were in the area who came into action and assisted so ably."

The Scottish Ambulance Service said it had dispatched three ambulances, a helimed resource and a trauma team to the scene after being alerted at 12:22.

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