Three dead in Scottish avalanche
THREE people died tonight after they were caught in a huge avalanche on a mountain in the Scottish Highlands.
A major rescue operation involving helicopters was launched after the avalanche, on Buchaille Etive Mhor, near Glencoe.
Northern Constabulary said a total of nine people in at least two separate parties were involved in the incident.
A police spokesman said four people were taken to hospital, three of whom died and another suffered a shoulder injury.
The remaining five people involved in the avalanche were uninjured, said police.
Rescue helicopters were sent to the scene - with one flying in from RAF Lossiemouth along with a Royal Navy helicopter from Prestwick - together with members of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team.
Search dogs were also called in in a bid to locate those who were on the mountain.
And they battled against blizzard conditions to find those who were caught up in the incident.
The emergency services were called out after a climber in the area raised the alarm and reported the avalanche.
Northern Constabulary said they had been alerted to the incident, on the Coire Na Tulaich area of the mountain, at about noon today.
Two people were taken off the mountain by the RAF rescue helicopter, which flew them to Belford Hospital in Fort William.
However one was pronounced dead there and the second died some time later.
Rescuers then took the person who had suffered the shoulder injury off the mountain, and they were taken to Belford Hospital for treatment.
The third person who died was not found till later, as they had been buried in the snow.
After being removed from the mountain the victim was taken to the Belford Hospital, but was pronounced dead there.
The five people who were not injured in the avalanche are now off the mountain.
Inspector Pamela Ross, of Northern Constabulary, told Sky News the three dead were walking as part of a party of seven.
“We are making inquiries as to who these people are, where they are from and how they came to be walking in Glencoe today,” she said.
Officers were trying to contact the next of kin of those killed, she added.
Inspector Ross said several parties were near the scene of the avalanche but added: “We have got no outstanding reports of people waiting for anybody else to come off the mountains.”
She said the Glencoe mountain range was popular at all times of the year and there was nothing to suggest Buchaille Etive Mhor was particularly dangerous.
John Armstrong, who is part of a mountain rescue team in the Cairngorms to the east of Scotland, said: “Any loss of life hits any emergency service personnel badly.
“No matter how often you are exposed to that it doesn’t make the situation any easier to deal with.
“Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of these people.”
Mr Armstrong spent today on the Cairngorms and said: “Today has been a beautiful day in Scotland. There have been tens of thousands of people out there.
“It’s tragic that this has happened.”
Mr Armstrong, an instructor at the Glenmore Lodge National Outdoor Centre, said: “During the winter time in Scotland there’s nearly always an avalanche risk.
“It’s categorised from one - a low risk - to five.
“Three should not be seen as a medium where it’s safe or not safe. At any time there can be a risk.”
The Sport Scotland website rated the risk of avalanches in Glencoe as “considerable”.
Today’s risk was rated as category 3 on a scale of one to five.
David Campbell, the manager at Glencoe Ski Centre, also told how workers had helped with the search effort.
One of the ski centre employees is a member of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, while a colleague, who was skiing in the area, also joined in hunt.
Mr Campbell described the avalanche as a “really major incident”.
Mr Campbell said Buchaille Etive Mhor was not normally used by skiers, but did attract climbers.
However he warned it was not an area where inexperienced climbers should venture.
“It’s a well known area for climbers, but it’s not an area for inexperienced climbers,” Mr Campbell said.
The Fort William area is known for its beautiful scenery and is popular with skiers, climbers and walkers.
And Buchaille Etive Mor, is known for its distinctive shape, which looks like a pyramid.
The mountain’s highest point is at 3,352 feet, and the information website Visit Fort William says its Curved Ridge is ideal for scrambling, an activity between hill walking and climbing in difficulty, and which requires hands to be used to get up rocky faces and ridges.
Bob Kinnaird of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service said of the group caught up in today’s avalanche: “We don’t know if they read that warning.”
He told the BBC it was “a massive exaggeration” to suggest people should not have been on the mountains after a category three avalanche warning was given.
Mr Kinnaird told Sky that statistics showed that more people were going onto Scotland’s mountains but the number of avalanches had not increased.
“That says a lot about the knowledge and education that’s available but there are always people that underestimate the risk,” he added.
David Gibson, chief officer of The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, told Sky News that the avalanche information service had been running in Scotland for several years during winter months.
“It’s important that skiers, climbers and hill walkers - if they are going out - check the avalanche information service,” he said.
