Update: 8 skiers dead after avalanche in U.S. Northern California
The search for the one missing person is ongoing, pending weather conditions, Moon said.
SACRAMENTO, United States, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Eight skiers have been killed and one remains missing following an avalanche on Tuesday in Nevada County, U.S. Northern California, local authorities said Wednesday.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference that the avalanche struck a group of backcountry skiers in the Sierra Nevada mountains, making it the deadliest avalanche in the country in more than four decades.
Moon told reporters that authorities had informed the families of those involved that the operation had officially shifted from rescue to recovery.
The search for the one missing person is ongoing, pending weather conditions, Moon said.
Eight bodies have been located, and crews were working to transport the remains off the mountain for autopsies to determine the cause of death, authorities said.
Six survivors were rescued Tuesday evening after search and rescue teams navigated blizzard conditions for several hours, the sheriff's office said, adding that two of the six were taken to a hospital for treatment with no life-threatening injuries.
The avalanche struck at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday near Castle Peak, located about 2,500 meters northwest of Lake Tahoe.
A group of 15 people, including 11 clients and four guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides, a professional backcountry tour company, was returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of a three-day guided ski trip when the accident occurred, the company said in a statement.
The Sierra Avalanche Center, a regional forecasting body, had issued a high avalanche danger warning before the accident, citing rapidly accumulating snowfall, unstable snowpack layers and strong winds.
Moon said investigators would examine the company's decision to proceed with the trip in light of the warning.
On Wednesday, the center warned that danger remains high and that travel in or near avalanche terrain is not recommended. ■