Toll Rises on Khan Tengri
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The number of confirmed dead following an avalanche on 22,998-foot Khan Tengri in Kyrgyzstan has risen to 11. Early on the morning of Aug. 5, a large serac fell from a neighboring peak and smashed into an international group of climbers. Another 14 climbers were hurt, including two that had critical injuries. Rescue teams flown into the area were not able to search for survivors because of storms on the mountain. Reports of up to 40 missing climbers appear to have resulted from calls to authorities by family members of mountaineers in other parts of the range. The toll on Khan Tengri now equals the worst accident in U.S. climbing history. In June 1981, an ice avalanche killed 11 climbers on the slopes of Mt. Rainier.
